Environment Secretary Roy A. Cimatu lauded food and beverage giant San Miguel Corp. (SMC) for its commitment to clean up the Tullahan-Tinajeros River System, one of the major river systems draining into the heavily polluted Manila Bay.
This, after the SMC, led by President and COO Ramon Ang, on Monday formally entered into a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) under the Adopt-A-River Program, a priority initiative of the agency and a key strategy to fulfill the Supreme Court’s continuing mandamus to clean up Manila Bay.
“Let me laud and thank [SMC] for heeding the call and joining us on this massive rehabilitation effort to clean up this very important river system,” Cimatu said in a news statement.
“By working together, we hope to send a stronger message on how committed we are in securing a healthier future for our rivers and creeks that empty into Manila Bay,” the DENR chief added.
Cimatu said the Tullahan-Tinajeros River System has to be rehabilitated considering that it got failing marks in almost all the physicochemical standards set for Class C waters.
Class C waters are for propagation and growth of fish and other aquatic resources; for recreation such as boating, fishing or similar activities; and for agriculture, irrigation and livestock watering.
The 59-kilometer Tullahan-Tinajeros River System, which starts from La Mesa Dam in Quezon City and drains into the Manila Bay at Centennial Park in Navotas City, is one of the dirtiest waterways emptying into the bay.
SMC pledged P1 billion for the dredging and cleanup of the river system, including the purchase of backhoes, cranes with a claw, dump trucks, barges and fuel.
Ang said the company will invest by buying barges, backhoes, cranes with clamshell and dump trucks, as well as lighting and generators, for the cleanup.
Under the MOA, the parties agree to develop and implement a comprehensive program intended to reduce pollution in the river system. They will also coordinate and participate in the regular planning and implementation of the Tullahan-Tinajeros River System: Adopt-A-River Program.
For its part, the DENR will ensure the reduction of the pollution of the river system, undertake regular water quality monitoring, provide technical assistance to local government units traversing the river system, and establish appropriate materials-recovery facility/system in concerned barangays.
It will also facilitate actions against violations of Republic Acts 9275 (Clean Water Act), 9003 (Ecological Solid Waste Management Act) and 6969 (Toxic Substances, Hazardous, and Nuclear Waste Control Act); and provide information and education campaign with the communities concerned, among others.
On the other hand, SMC will assist in the dredging and cleanup plan provided by the DENR, lend equipment and provide operators for these; provide funding for equipment operations, such as fuel and logistics cost; remove garbage through surface cleanup; and engineering solutions, such as the installation of trash traps and other similar measures.
Conflict of interest?
Meanwhile, environmental groups under Kalikasan-People’s Network for the Environment raised questions over possible conflict of interest in the DENR-SMC partnership.
Leon Dulce, national coordinator of Kalikasan-PNE, said the P1-billion fund allotted by the company can serve as “soft payment,” to fast-track various reclamation projects of SMC in Manila Bay.
“San Miguel’s P1-billion rehab is highly suspicious because it comes alongside its push for its Aerotropolis and Expressway-Dike reclamation projects across Northern Manila Bay. We fear that it might serve as ‘greenwashing’ to cover up for these destructive projects, at best, or grease money for the railroading of reclamation, at worst,” he said.