00:00 efforts to clean up the Pasig and Tuliahan rivers. We get an update from Jimmy Lu,
00:04 Vice President and Project Manager of the SMC River Cleanup Program. Jimmy,
00:10 great to have you with us on The Final Word. What is the latest status report on
00:14 the river cleanup of Pasig and Tuliahan? Thanks Rico for having me and it's
00:20 already three years since we started the river cleanup that we started in
00:25 Tuliahan in 2020 and so far we have already covered Tuliahan River, Pasig
00:32 River and even San Juan River. So at the moment we have already removed 2.5
00:38 million metric tons of silt and waste on all these three rivers which are the one
00:43 governing the whole Metro Manila. So it has been a work in progress for the past
00:48 three years. Everybody wants to find out now when will this cleanup be
00:52 completed? Yeah actually we are about to complete this month for Pasig River so
00:58 that's it. San Juan River there's a little bit more that we are cleaning up
01:01 upstream but we're already complete in bridging the rivers of Pasig River and
01:07 San Juan River. What about the Tuliahan River? Tuliahan River was completed since
01:11 last year in August of 2022. Yeah so we're quite pleased that we have
01:17 completed our task in the river cleanup in Metro Manila. And how are our
01:22 Kababayans and the communities around these rivers benefiting from the cleanup?
01:28 Ah yes we are pleased to see based on feedback from residents and the
01:33 barangays that we work with and the local governments that there is a
01:37 significant improvement in terms of reducing flooding especially in the
01:42 commonly flood prone areas like in Talayan and Tatalon, Rojas district in
01:48 Quezon City, in Espana in Bloomingtree in Manila, as well as in Calentong in
01:54 Mandaluyong. There's if there's flooding it recedes fast after the rain stops and
02:01 during normal rain no flooding at all because the water on the river flows out
02:06 faster to Manila Bay as we focus in removing the shallow area the soil in
02:12 the shallow areas and narrow channels. So we practically improved the hydraulic
02:16 flow of the two those rivers. In Marikina River as you may notice
02:23 there is no overflow in Marikina River and we believe what the government DPWH
02:28 and Marikina LGU is doing to widen and deepen it complements well with what San
02:34 Miguel is doing in Pasig River because Marikina River will flow out of Pasig
02:38 River. So with the two complement each other in ensuring that Marikina River
02:43 would not overflow. Indeed the the cleanup and the dredging of these three
02:49 rivers has really helped in mitigating and low and lessening the flooding
02:55 incidents in many areas and communities in Metro Manila. Even in Laguna Lake
03:01 even in Laguna Lake the towns in the coastal towns of Laguna Lake we check
03:05 there is no flooding in Binan, San Pedro and Santa Rosa because we also clean the
03:10 mouth of Pasig River in Laguna Lake as well as the floodgate the Napindan
03:16 floodgate that controls the flow between Laguna Lake and Pasig River and
03:21 Marikina River we have practically removed that the clogging in that
03:25 floodgate. But Jimmy while Metro Manila and even Marikina were spared from the
03:31 recent typhoon and southwest monsoon rains it was a different story in
03:37 Bulacan. There were some comments that San Miguel Corporation's New Manila
03:42 International Airport is partly causing the flooding in Bulacan. Yeah well
03:48 actually the the New Manila International Airport site is really a
03:53 titled land. It used to be an area that is with operation there is even a
04:04 church until now there. And because of the sinking of the land it is
04:11 converted to a fish pond but there are dikes that are around it and
04:16 and really it is not a reclamation area. It's a land redevelopment area.
04:22 So it's surrounded by big rivers around the new airport site so water
04:28 would flow out on those rivers and the Bulacan Airport site is not affected.
04:34 So we just want to make it clear Jimmy that the construction of the New Manila
04:38 International Airport has nothing to do with the flooding in Bulacan. So what do
04:44 you think are the main contributors right now to Bulacan's flooding issues?
04:49 Yeah well it goes without saying the unprecedented heavy rains during this
04:55 heavy monsoon rain together with high tide is affecting some of the
05:01 rivers of Bulacan. Some areas you mentioned. One of the areas that is severely affected by the
05:08 flooding due to the heavy rains is Calumpit. Yeah Calumpit is actually
05:13 outside the area of the Bulacan Airport River Network. The Bulacan
05:17 River, Bulacan Airport River Network is part of Ubando, Bulacan, Maycawayan,
05:24 Bukawe and Yiginto. Calumpit is part of Hagonoy and it's in between
05:31 Pampanga River and Angat River. Two big rivers that are connected to Pampanga
05:36 and Nueva Ecija and the dam. So they're at risk whenever there are heavy rains
05:41 because the water coming from the north also flows out. Can you give us a
05:45 proximity of how far is Calumpit from the New Manila International Airport
05:52 also in Bulacan? Oh it's very very far. It's really in a different
05:57 system all in place. And in terms of the siltation because of the lahar
06:04 that happened during Mount Pinatubo, it's still there. We need to remove that in
06:09 order for the water to flow out from Calumpit and Hagonoy Rivers. What
06:15 about the cleanup of the Bulacan Rivers? What rivers are covered and how will
06:19 this help the towns around it? Right now we are already 40% complete in
06:25 cleaning up Maycawayan River and Maycapista River which surrounds the
06:30 Bulacan Airport. That's around 540,000 metric tons since we
06:36 started in October and we expect to complete that cleanup by January of 2024.
06:43 And Mr. Ang is committed to continue the cleanup upstream going to Maycawayan,
06:49 Marilao and Bukawe. But of course everybody knows Jimmy that flooding has
06:55 always been a perennial problem for the country particularly in Luzon. What do
07:00 you think needs to be done even more to address the flooding in Bulacan and the
07:06 central Luzon provinces? Yeah apart from the massive dredging or cleaning up to
07:11 make sure that the water flows out that what San Miguel is doing, I understand
07:16 the Bulacan LGU is looking at building dams upstream to control the flow of
07:21 water going down to the downstream areas and at the same time to build
07:26 the mega-dive to control the high tide of sea. So on those areas we will
07:33 be able to control the flooding in Bulacan and also in Pampanga and other
07:37 areas that are affected by this. Thank you so much Jimmy for joining us on the
07:42 final word and for clarifying the flooding that's taking place in Bulacan
07:47 and of course the status report on the dredging and cleanup of the Pasig and
07:53 Tulyahan rivers. Thank you. Jimmy Lu, Vice President, Project Manager, SMC River
07:57 Cleanup Program.
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