Water and Urban Initiative
Working Paper Series
Number 02 — April 2015

Understanding the Waterand Urban Environment of aMegacity: The Case of MetroManila, Philippines

Lilia SD. Raflores Manila, Philippines

Ram Krishna Regmi United Nations University Institute for the Advanced Study of Sustainability,
Tokyo, Japan

Water and Urban Initiative
This working paper series shares findings produced as part of the research activities under the Water and Urban Initiative(WUI), a research project of the United Nations University Institute for the Advanced Study of Sustainability (UNU-IAS). TheWUI aims to contribute to sustainable development, focusing on developing countries in Asia, by providing policy tools and aninformation platform to assist planning and implementing policies for sustainable urban and water environment.
To find out more, please visit unu.edu/research/water-and-urban-initiative.html© 2015 United Nations University. All Rights Reserved.
The views expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations University.

Understanding the Water and Urban Environment of a Megacity: The Case of Metro Manila, Philippines

ABSTRACTThis study attempts to understand the complexities of thewater and urban environmental situation in a highly urbanized area like Metro Manila, Philippines. This will input tothe development of policy tools, databases and models to
help improve the urban water environment in developing
Asian cities. Metro Manila is a megacity with population
exceeding 11.8 million people in 2010 spread over 17 local
government units. As a highly urbanized area, Metro Manila
experiences environmental problems often associated withurbanization such as air and water pollution, flooding, solid
waste management problems and climate change. The
complex governance structure of water and the environment combined with deteriorating water and environmental situation makes Metro Manila an ideal pilot area where
future initiatives can be modeled.

1. Water and Urban Initiative
The Water and Urban Initiative (WUI) Project is a research
program being undertaken by the United Nations-Institutefor Advanced Study of Sustainability (UNU-IAS) with funding from the Ministry of Environment of Japan. The study
aims to help improve urban water environment in developing Asian Cities by developing policy tools, databases andmodeling the effect of optimal land use and water treatment facilities that meet both socio-economic and ecological needs. The study focuses on three areas: human healthrisk reduction, ecosystem conservation and environmental
disaster risk mitigation particularly flood impacts. It is being
undertaken in four developing Asian Cities, one of which is2

the Metropolitan Manila (Metro Manila) area in the Philippines. This report is part of the initial stage of the project
which focuses on the collection of data and informationand conduct of literature review and data analysis needed
for the development of policy tools, databases and modeling.

2. Brief Overview on Metropolitan Manila
The Metropolitan Manila (Metro Manila), otherwise known
as the National Capital Region (NCR), is located at 14°40’
N 121°3 E. It is composed of sixteen cities and one municipality, divided into four (4) districts with four (4) cities as
its centers: First District – City of Manila; Second District– Quezon City, Pasig City, Marikina City, Mandaluyong City
and City of San Juan; Third District – Caloocan City, City ofMalabon, City of Navotas and Valenzuela City; and FourthDistrict – Pasay City, Makati City, Parañaque City, Muntinlupa City, Las Piñas City, Municipality of Pateros and TaguigCity.
The region is bounded by the Manila Bay in the west, theLaguna de Bay in the south-east, the Sierra Madre Mountain Range in the east and the fertile plains of Central
Luzon in the north. It is is bounded by several provinces:
Bulacan to the north, Rizal to the east, Laguna to the southand Cavite to the southwest.
Metro Manila or the National Capital Region (NCR) has atotal land area of 63,600 hectares, approximately 0.21 %of the country’s land area of 30 million hectares. BasedUnderstanding the Water and Urban Environment of a Megacity: The Case of Metro Manila, Philippines

on a JICA study, residential areas constituted 44.8 percentof the region’s land area in 2006. About 28 percent wereopen spaces and parks, 12.2 percent commercial, 7.6 percent industrial and 6.9 percent institutional. Metro Manila isconsidered a highly urbanized city.
It has a population of 11,855,975 based on the 2010 census
of population. This accounts for about 13% of the national
population of 92,337,852 and about one third of the total
urban population. NCR remains to be the most densely
populated region in the country. With 186 persons per hectare, NCR is more than 60 times denser than at the nationallevel.
NCR is the top contributor to the national economy. In
2013, NCR shares 36.3 percent in the country’s economic
output, the largest among all regions. NCR also posted ahigher growth in Gross Regional Domestic Product (GRDP)of 9.1 percent from 2012 to 2013 compared to the 7.2
percent growth in the national economy. NCR’s economic
growth was attributed to the higher growth of the industry
sector. The services sector, however, continued to accountfor the largest share of 80.5 percent in the region’s economy in 2013.

3. Water Situation in Metro Manila
Four river systems traverse Metro Manila: Marikina River,
San Juan River, Parañaque River and Pasig River. Except for
the upper reach of the Marikina River which is classified as
Class A, all the four river systems were classified as ClassC water bodies. This means that they are intended forfishery, for non-contact recreation activities such as boatingand for manufacturing processes after treatment. Monitoring of water quality conducted on these river systems, however, showed that they are heavily polluted. Their biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) and dissolved oxygen (DO) werebeyond the standard of <7 mg/L and >5 mg/L for Class C
waters, respectively, in the last eleven years.
The rivers in Metro Manila drain to Manila Bay, which islocated to the west of the metropolis. The Bay is classified
as Class SB which means it is intended for contact recreation such as bathing, swimming, skin diving, and similar
activities and as spawning areas for bangus (milkfish) andother similar species. Studies, however, show that there ishigh concentration of heavy metals and other pollutants inthe Bay. The Supreme Court issued in 2008 a continuingmandamus for the government to clean-up Manila Bay tobring its water quality to SB level. The Pasig River connects
Manila Bay to what is considered as the third largest inland
body of water in Southeast Asia, which is the Laguna Lakelocated at the southeastern portion of Metro Manila.
Due to the poor quality of water in Metro Manila, theregion sources its water requirements from Angat Dam, inthe nearby province of Bulacan. The raw water is filtered in

3

La Mesa Dam in Quezon City and distributed to the households by two water concessionaires: the Manila Water andthe Maynilad. Sewerage and sanitation services are also
provided by the 2 concessionaires. As of December, 2013,
sewerage coverage ranged from 12-13% with a sewer network of 740 kilometers.

4. Urbanization and Related Environmental Issues
Metro Manila is a highly urbanized area. It is the only region in the country that is 100 percent urban. With urbanization, environmental issues such as solid waste problems,flooding, and air pollution as well as presence of informal
settlements are prevalent in the region.
Metro Manila generates over 6,700 tons of solid wastes perday. However, only 5,600 tons (84 percent) are being collected and dumped at the nine (9) dumpsites throughout
Metro Manila. The remaining 16 percent goes to the river
systems causing the clogging of major waterways, thereby
resulting to flooding.
The presence of informal settlers living along the rivers
and their tributaries also contributed to the constriction ofthe drainage areas of Metro Manila, resulting to flooding
during heavy rains. These informal settlers also add to thedeterioration of the water quality of these water bodies.
In Pasig River alone 11,650 informal settler families (77.7percent) were already relocated from 1998 to 2014.
The increasing population in the metropolis and the rapid
development in the area caused the poor quality of ambient air in the region. In 2013, total suspended particulates(TSP) or the amount of dust in the air in Metro Manila (132ug/Ncm) exceeded the standard level of 90 ug/Ncm by 47
percent. The amount of particulate matters 10 (PM10) is
recorded at 74 ug/Ncm during the same year, exceeding
the standard of 60 ug/Ncm by 23 percent. The high TSP
and PM10 levels were due mainly from vehicular emissions(80 percent) while stationary sources contributed only 20percent.
In terms of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions, studies conducted using the 2010 base year showed that net emissions
for Metro Manila amounted to 23,521.66 gigagrams of carbon dioxide equivalent. The energy sector accounted for
89.27 percent of the total emissions while the waste sector
contributed 10.60 percent. The contribution of the industrial, agricultural and land use sectors are insignificant.

5. Water and Environmental GovernanceThe development and management of water resources
and the environment can be characterized as complex one
with more than 20 agencies performing development andregulatory functions. In addition, the devolution of certain
functions to the local government units related to water

Understanding the Water and Urban Environment of a Megacity: The Case of Metro Manila, Philippines

and the environment has further made governance a challenge to both the national and local government.

6. Current Initiatives
The government is currently undertaking programs andprojects geared towards the management and protectionof the water and urban environment. These include:•Pasig River Rehabilitation and Development Programof the Pasig River Rehabilitation Commission (PRCC)
involves the relocation/resettlement of informal settler
families living along the Pasig River, improvement ofthe water quality of the river and recovery of the easement for the development of environmental preservation areas and linear parks.

•Implementation of the Manila Bay Coastal Strategy is a
response to the continuing mandamus of the Supreme
Court for the clean-up of Manila Bay to bring thewater quality to the SB level. The Manila Bay region/watershed covers not only the Metro Manila Areabut also other neighboring towns and provinces. It is
implemented by national and local government units
surrounding the Bay.
Adopt-an-Estero Program is a nationwide program
implemented by the Department of Environment andNatural Resources (DENR) to clean esteros or river
tributaries draining to the river systems. The DENR
enters into a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) withprivate sectors like Mc Donalds, Jolibee, SM City,Luzon Expressway, etc. who will adopt and clean acertain portion of the estero or river tributary.

••

The Flood Management Master Plan for Metro Manila
and Surrounding Areas, which was formulated basedon a Flood Risk Study, is now being implemented bythe Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH)
and the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA)
with initial allocation of PhP 5.0 million for dredging
and construction of infrastructures such as seawalls.

•Adopt-A-River-Project is one of the components of theRiver Rehabilitation Program aimed at the improvement of the water quality of Laguna Lake and its watershed, which includes part of Metro Manila. The project
involves multi-stakeholders such as local governments
and industries in cleaning and protecting the specificportion of river/tributary in their area•

Environmental Management and Pollution Control isa regular program being implemented by the DENR
through its Environmental Management Bureau which
deals with the implementation of environmental laws,
in particular, the Clean Water Act to ensure and sustain
a clean and healthy environment.

•4

Water Resources Regulation Program is a regular initiative of the National Water Resources Board (NWRB),
the aim of which is resource regulation by way of water
permitting system as provided for in the Water Codeof the Philippines

7. Conclusions
Given the foregoing situation, Metro Manila offers an ideal
pilot area for the on-going WUI initiative. The complex
governance structure of water and the environment combined with a deteriorating water and environmental set up
makes Metro Manila an ideal model where future initiatives
such the development of policy tools like water pollution
risk assessment and water quality index, development ofdatabases and modeling the effect of optimal land use andwater treatment facilities can be undertaken and effectively
implemented.

References
Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR)
Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH)
International Resources Group (IRG). Top-Down Metro Manila Greenhouse Gas(GHG) Inventory, March 2013.
Laguna Lake Development Authority (LLDA)
Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA)
Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS)
National Census Office (NSO)
National Statistics Coordination Board (NSCB)
Pasig River Rehabilitation Commission (PRRC)