San Miguel Corp. (SMC) President and COO Ramon S. Ang lauded the government’s effort to clean up and rehabilitate Manila Bay which required the dredging and removal of silt, trash, and other obstructions from tributaries.
“Government has done a really good job cleaning up Manila Bay. Water quality has improved a lot. But we all need to pitch in and do our part to sustain these initial gains,” Ang said in a statement.
“Cleaning the tributaries leading to Manila Bay would entail massive cost and we understand that government has to prioritize more urgent basic needs during the pandemic. We are here to support the government in whatever way we can.”
SMC is targeting to dredge a total of 700,000 tons of garbage from the Tullahan River and Pasig River every year in the next 10 years as part of its pledge under the massive P1-billion Tullahan-Tinajeros dredging and clean-up project and planned Pasig River clean up.
Cleanup operations in Tullahan continue to remove 600 tons of garbage daily since resuming operations with the lifting of the quarantine restrictions in June.
SMC is also looking to dredge major rivers and water tributaries in Bulacan that lead to Manila Bay.
Bulacan airport
The proponent of the P734-billion New Manila International Airport in Bulacan, SMC is now preparing for the construction phase.
An SMC hydrology study has identified the Marilao-Meycauayan-Obando River System (MMORS) as one of the major tributaries leading to Manila Bay that will need constant dredging.
Aside from MMORS, SMC also indicated the Malolos stream and the Tullahan River, the latter acting as a spillway for water coming from Angat and Ipo Dams.
“Aside from the dredging and cleaning, the rivers in Bulacan will need to be widened and deepened in order to increase their capacity to carry excess rainwater or water coming from upstream and thus reduce flooding,” Ang said.
Flood mitigation activities
“Flood mitigation in Bulacan is something we committed to the people from day one. It’s not just to benefit the airport, more importantly, it will benefit the entire province, Metro Manila, and parts of Central Luzon,” he said.
Ang said that on a daily basis, SMC extracts an average of 600 tons of silt and solid waste from the initial 5.25-km part of the Tullahan from Bagumbayan South in Navotas City to Barangay Catmon in Malabon City.
The entire Tullahan-Tinajeros river system stretches 27 kilometers from the La Mesa Dam to Navotas City. As of September 14, more than 29,000 cubic meters of dredged soil and solid waste were collected from the river.
To fast-track operations, SMC acquired larger excavators, a fleet of barges, tugboats, cranes, and dump trucks and is looking to acquire more equipment as the project progresses.
“We are looking to complete the Navotas-Malabon section in two years and we are expecting to dredge a total of 1 million cubic meters from this section alone. From there, we will move to the Valenzuela and Caloocan section of the Tullahan River,” said Ang.
The Navotas-Malabon phase of the dredging project is divided into 5 sectors: Sector 1 from Manila Bay to Tonsuya Bridge; Sector 2 from Tonsuya Bridge to Lambingan Bridge; Sector 3 from Lambingan Bridge to Tinajeros Bridge; Sector 4 from Tinajeros Bridge to Tullahan Bridge, and Sector 5 from Tullahan Bridge up to Potrero. The accumulation of trash and silt has reduced the depth of many sections of the Tullahan River to just one to two meters. A DPWH study stated the need to increase the depth of the Tullahan River to 5 meters to increase its capacity and reduce flooding in nearby areas.
“By dredging, cleaning, deepening and widening these rivers, we will be able to improve water quality enough to attract marine life again and for these rivers to be utilized as an alternative means of transport,” he said.
“This is a sustainable and long-term solution to the perennial flooding in Bulacan. It will be a major, coordinated effort between many stakeholders, local government units, and residents.”
Ang said the airport project will not worsen the flooding as the company has set in place flood mitigation measures that will help the whole province as well. “We will make sure that this airport will live up to its promise to bring positive change in the community and the lives of many Filipinos.”
Recently, SMC also has undertaken to plant a total of 190,000 mangroves over 76 hectares of coastal areas in Bulacan and Central Luzon with Hagonoy town as pilot site.