President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Tuesday directed the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) to sustain the “sacred task” of cleaning and protecting Manila Bay as the government received the South Korean-donated marine cleanup vessel MV Nilad.
In a speech read on his behalf by Transportation Secretary Giovanni Lopez during the vessel’s inauguration at South Harbor in Manila, Marcos said the deployment of MV Nilad is expected to help accelerate the ecological recovery of Manila Bay under the US$8.2-million Enhancement of Marine Litter Management in Manila Bay (EMLM) Project.
Marcos said the 25-meter, 101-ton MV Nilad was built for “real and urgent tasks,” including the collection, sorting, and storage of up to 10 tons of marine litter in a single operation.
The President said the vessel can operate for 300 to 400 hours annually and is equipped not only for waste retrieval, but also for oil spill response and environmental monitoring.
“MV Nilad will also aid our research. The Department of Environment and Natural Resources personnel can conduct environmental monitoring and litter assessment, turning every clean-up operation into an opportunity to learn more about our bay,” Marcos said.
“So, to the men and women of the DENR and the Philippine Coast Guard who will operate this vessel, the task at hand is sacred. I trust that you will take care of MV Nilad so that it may continue to take care of Manila Bay,” he added.
Marcos said the vessel is a concrete reflection of the friendship and cooperation between the Philippines and South Korea, and a reminder that “when nations work together, challenges can be met with lasting solutions.”
The President also stressed the urgency of rehabilitating Manila Bay, describing it as an “iconic body of water” and one of the country’s “most environmentally stressed water bodies.”
“For a long time, our government agencies have lacked a dedicated vessel capable of continuous marine litter collection, waste retrieval, and emergency oil spill response in Manila Bay,” Marcos said.
“I look forward to seeing clearer waters in Manila Bay for ourselves and our children,” he added.
According to the DENR, a marine litter survey conducted under the EMLM Project showed that more than 6.5 million litter items remained scattered across Manila Bay’s 190-kilometer coastline in 2025, weighing over 203,000 kilograms.