San Miguel Corporation (SMC) president and CEO Ramon S. Ang addressed allegations by some that the airport project is the cause of flooding in the province, pointing out that flooding had already been a major problem, long before government approved the airport’s construction in the province, just north of Metro Manila.
“There are many contributing factors to flooding. Bulacan has many low-lying areas. Another is land subsidence caused by over-extraction and the depletion of ground water. In fact, that is one of the reasons why we invested in putting up the Bulacan Bulk Water System Project some years back —to provide potable water to residents without having to resort to unsustainable use of ground water,” Ang explained.
He added: “Degradation, siltation, and pollution of our rivers are of course major causes of flooding. Because of these, rivers become shallow and their flood carrying capacity is severely diminished, resulting in river overflow and floods. The proliferation of fish ponds in coastal areas has also contributed to severe flooding in the province”.
SMC has already started cleaning up rivers around the airport project site as part of the overall design and long-term maintenance of the country’s largest international gateway.
These flood mitigation efforts are seen to also benefit towns near the airport.
“We are deeply invested in the future as well as the well-being of Bulacan and its residents. We would not pour in billions in resources if we didn’t consider all possible risks, including flooding in the province. As with any major undertaking of this magnitude, extensive studies were done even before construction started. And even now, we continue to work with experts and to consistently ensure we adhere to the highest environmental and social standards and regulations,” Ang said.
Heavily-silted Pampanga river brought floods to Calumpit, other towns
Ang also pointed out that heavily-flooded areas during the last typhoon, particularly Calumpit and Hagonoy, located far from the airport project, were affected by overflow from the heavily-silted Pampanga River aggravated by the release of water from some dams.
SMC is already looking to extend its river desilting and cleanup initiative beyond Bulacan’s rivers, to other critical tributaries throughout Central Luzon.
“With our experience in cleaning up Tullahan and Pasig Rivers, the modern equipment we have invested in over the years, and the technical know-how of our personnel, I think we are more than ready to take on the challenge of expanding the efforts to the rest of Bulacan and also Pampanga,” Ang added.
Since 2020, the company has been undertaking major river cleanup programs at no cost to government, to help mitigate flooding in and around Metro Manila,
Apart from its ongoing cleanup of the Pasig River, last year, SMC completed its P1-billion Tullahan river cleanup project. It extracted more than 1.12 million metric tons of silt and solid wastes from the river.
Currently, Ang said SMC is has cleaned up some 4.45 kilometers out of an inital 13-kilometer target along the Taliptip/Maycapiz River and the Meycauayan River. A total of 543,266 metric tons of silt and solid waste have now been removed.
Meycauayan River, one of the tributaries in the Marilao-Meycauayan-Obando River System (MMORS), has been named as one of the world’s top 10 tributaries that emit the highest share of plastics to the oceans.
Others in the list are the Pasig River, Tullahan River, Pampanga River, Libmanan river, Rio Grande de Mindanao, and Agno river.
