Last Updated on June 12, 2024 by OJ Maño
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San Miguel Corporation (SMC) has achieved a new milestone in its river cleanup advocacy, removing 6 million metric tons of silt and solid waste from various river systems in and around Metro Manila.
SMC’s River Cleanup Drive Removes 6M Metric Tons of Waste
tons of silt and solid waste from rivers in Metro Manila and neighboring
provinces, including over 3 million tons recently extracted from more than 50 km
of rivers in Bulacan province.
This total includes more than 3 million tons recently extracted from over 50 km of rivers across the flood-prone Bulacan province as part of a major expansion of the conglomerate’s cleanup initiative. These rivers traverse the cities and towns of Meycauayan, Obando, Bulakan, Bocaue, Marilao, Balagtas, and Guiguinto in Bulacan.
This is the most extensive river cleanup initiative undertaken by SMC under a long-term, comprehensive effort started in 2020 to clean up heavily polluted river systems, including the Pasig River, Tullahan River, and San Juan River.
From 2020 to date, it has successfully removed nearly 1.2 million metric tons of waste from 26 kilometers of the Pasig River, 1.1 million tons from 11 kilometers of the Tullahan River, and almost 320,000 tons from the San Juan River.
In October last year, SMC announced that it was expanding its river cleanup initiative in Bulacan and to other provinces and cities, including Pampanga, Navotas, Laguna, and Cavite, in partnership with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and local government units.
tons of silt and solid waste from rivers in Metro Manila and neighboring
provinces, including over 3 million tons recently extracted from more than 50 km
of rivers in Bulacan province.
Its efforts to desilt the San Isidro River in San Pedro, Laguna, have yielded 343,836 tons of silt and waste.
SMC is also gearing up to clean 26 km of the heavily silted Pampanga River, which flows down to Bulacan and has been identified as a major cause of flooding in both provinces and other nearby areas.
“After four years of continuous effort, we are as determined and committed as ever to continue this advocacy, which has positively impacted people, local economies, and our environment. We are very grateful for the support of the DENR, DPWH, and our partner LGUs, without whom we would not have achieved so much in such a short time,” Ang said.
“We are also very proud of our river cleanup teams’ hard work and dedication. Their commitment to our advocacy and the communities has resulted in the removal of over 6 million tons of waste and silt to date and covered close to 100 km. Of river channel from the Pasig River, Tullahan River, San Juan River, Bulacan Rivers, and San Pedro River–with more to come,” Ang added.
In Bulacan, where SMC has significant investments such as the MRT-7 project, the Bulacan Bulk Water Supply project, and the new Manila International Airport project, SMC has committed to helping address the province’s long-standing problem with flooding.
Historically, Bulacan has always been flood-prone due to several factors.
These include its low-lying location, land subsidence due to groundwater extraction and depletion, heavily silted and polluted rivers, and the proliferation of commercial fishponds along its coastal areas in past decades, which have impeded floodwaters’ natural flow out to Manila Bay.
tons of silt and solid waste from rivers in Metro Manila and neighboring
provinces, including over 3 million tons recently extracted from more than 50 km
of rivers in Bulacan province.
“True to our commitment to Bulacan province, our river cleanup efforts are now in full gear. Work is now spread out in nine major river areas. Some of these rivers have become so shallow that their depths were initially measured at only 0.5 to one to two meters. We aim to deepen them to 3-5 meters to carry out floodwaters more efficiently and, in some key areas, even enhance biodiversity and ecosystems,” Ang said.
Bulacan rivers that were already cleared of silt and waste include the Taliptip-Maycapiz-Bambang rivers, which are 10 kilometers long; the Meycauayan River, which runs from Manila Bay up to NLEX, 12 kilometers long; the Mailad to Bocaue/Sta. Maria River is 8.5 kilometers long; the Marilao River, which is also upstream to NLEX, is 4.8 km long; and the Balagtas River is 2.5 km long.
Cleanup is ongoing in the Pamarawan River in Malolos. This river is also the site of SMC’s 40-hectare biodiversity area for migratory shorebirds, where the initiative has covered 1.8 km of the total 8.9 km.
Read SMC launches PHL’s 1st complete biodiversity offset Site in Bulacan, SMC Successfully Expands Central Luzon River Cleanup, Removes Over 2M Tons of Silt and Wastes in Bulacan, and SMC, gov’t forge most extensive CSR collaboration to clean up, rehabilitate Luzon rivers 2023