23K tons of wastes collected from river cleanups in C. Luzon

Paquito Moreno, executive director of the DENR regional office, reported that from more than 1,400 tons of mixed wastes collected in 2019 when the Battle for Manila Bay was launched, the figures have progressed to 23,000 tons of wastes that have been collected from January to August of this year.

 

"We have doubled our efforts to clean our rivers through grubbing of rivers and creeks in Bataan, Bulacan, Pampanga, Tarlac, and Nueva Ecija. Grubbing is the mechanized removal of wastes already deposited at the bottom of rivers," he explained.

 

He said there is a lot more to be done to finally clean Manila Bay, but the progress has been enormous since the campaign started two years ago.

 

The DENR has also deployed some 420 Estero rangers in Manila Bay areas in the region primarily tasked to conduct cleanup and monitoring of rivers, beaches, and other water bodies.

 

A total of 125 trash traps were also installed in Bulacan, Bataan, and Pampanga to prevent solid wastes from reaching the coastlines of Manila Bay.

 

Moreno appealed to the public to properly manage their solid wastes and support government efforts to save Manila Bay.

 

"We encourage everyone to religiously segregate their solid wastes at home and avoid using lots of single-used plastics because this will help in the reduction of our daily garbage generation," he added. (-30-)