San Miguel Corporation (SMC) disclosed on Friday, July 17, that its persistent desilting and cleanup initiatives along the San Juan River are nearing the finish line, having extracted over 116,000 metric tons of refuse and sediment in the span of 10 months.
The conglomerate restarted its rehabilitation campaign in September after surveillance indicated fresh buildups of garbage in parts of the river flowing through Manila, Mandaluyong, and San Juan.
SMC reported that a total of 116,157 metric tons of silt and debris have been pulled from a 6.1-kilometer span reaching from the river’s convergence with the Pasig River up to Talayan in Quezon City.
According to SMC, this ongoing maintenance reflects its dedication to safeguarding the environmental gains won during earlier restoration drives.
Prior to this latest phase of maintenance, the company had already cleared roughly 322,000 metric tons of waste and silt across the entire 7.6-kilometer expanse of the San Juan River during a major cleanup drive spanning 2022 to 2024.
SMC Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Ramon S. Ang stressed that routine dredging and preservation efforts are vital components of the conglomerate’s overarching Better Rivers PH program.
“Even if we have restored rivers to their natural depth, flow, and water-carrying capacity, improper waste disposal can aggravate silt buildup,” Ang said.
“At no cost to [the] government and in coordination with local authorities, we will continue to monitor and ensure that these waterways are cleared of obstructions so they can carry floodwaters efficiently, especially during the rainy season,” he added.
The rehabilitation of the San Juan River aligns with SMC’s extensive cooperation with state-led flood mitigation strategies, such as the Department of Public Works and Highways’ Oplan Kontra Baha initiative, which was introduced by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. last year.
Under the umbrella of its Better Rivers PH movement, SMC broadened its environmental footprint to the Visayas last month by sending dredging crews to clear a four-kilometer segment of the Butuanon River in Mandaue City, Cebu. The firm noted that heavy accumulations of trash and sediment had severely choked the river’s flow into the Mactan Channel.
The business giant also shared progress reports regarding its maintenance work on various other river channels nationwide.
“Maintenance cleanup operations continue along the Tullahan River, removing 177,384 metric tons of debris along a 6.4-km stretch; the Bulacan River System, clearing it of 723,393 metric tons of waste and silt through 13.38 km; and Laguna rivers, where 107,192 metric tons have been cleared from 2 km of waterways,” the company explained.
Concurrently, restoration efforts are still underway within the river networks of Parañaque, Las Piñas, Alabang, Tabang, and Tanza.
SMC stated that over the last six years, the Better Rivers PH initiative has successfully restored a cumulative 201.27 kilometers of river systems and extracted approximately 9.3 million metric tons of refuse and silt.