Conglomerate San Miguel Corp. (SMC) has expanded its river cleanup program to Alabang River in Muntinlupa.
SMC said the initiative includes clearing obstructions and widening narrow sections of the waterway to ease flooding that has long affected nearby communities and critical roads.
More than 26,000 tons of silt and waste from a 450-meter stretch of the river, starting at its mouth in Laguna de Bay and going upstream near Cupang Bridge, have been cleared in the two months since work started.
‘Our goal is to provide long-term solutions that would ease flooding for the city’s communities and critical roadways,’ SMC chairman and CEO Ramon Ang said.
‘We owe a great deal of gratitude to Mayor Ruffy Biazon for bringing together the concerned agencies to work with us on a comprehensive approach to solve the problem,’ he said.
The operations are part of remedial measures after severe flooding last July 8 left motorists stranded for hours along South Luzon Expressway.
SMC said that a subsequent investigation found that Alabang River was heavily silted and constricted that rainwater could not flow freely along the waterway.
Several sections of the river had also been narrowed by informal structures and new construction, the company said.
SMC shared the findings with Muntinlupa City Mayor Ruffy Biazon, who then welcomed SMC’s deployment of dredging equipment to begin clearing the river a week after a meeting last July 25.
The company has since been coordinating with the Muntinlupa City Engineering Office, the Department of Public Works and Highways and a nearby private subdivision on efforts to restore the river to its natural depth and width.
SMC said that newly installed sheet piles by a private contractor had to be removed as they were obstructing the flow of water along the channel.
It said that efforts would have to include relocating informal settler families along the riverbanks through a well-coordinated relocation effort for affected families.
Apart from Alabang River, SMC has ongoing cleanup operations that have so far removed 268,979 tons of debris from 5.9 kilometers of Parañaque Rivers around NAIA, 256,920 tons from 2.8 kilometers of Navotas Rivers, 479,278 tons from 6.2 kilometers of San Pedro Rivers in Laguna and 19,842 tons from Las Piñas River.