MANILA, Philippines?Officials of Marilao town in Bulacan province and the cities of Valenzuela and Caloocan in Metro Manila have agreed to join hands in cleaning up the Marilao River which was included last year in the list of dirtiest places worldwide.

The agreement was reached in a meeting last week among Bulacan Gov. Joselito Mendoza, Marilao Mayor Epifanio Guillermo, Caloocan Mayor Enrico Echiverri and Valenzuela Mayor Sherwin Gatchalian

The officials also pledged to allot funds for the cleanup.

Mendoza called for the meeting to discuss the state of the river and find ways of solving the pollution problem.

Bulacan officials earlier said industrial and domestic waste from the cities of Caloocan and Valenzuela were contributing to the degradation of the Marilao River.

According to Guillermo, the body of water has become a catch basin of garbage from the metropolis and nearby areas in Bulacan.

Guillermo left for the United States last week to discuss the river?s state with Bulakenyos there and to solicit their support for the cleanup drive.

Marilao Vice Mayor Juanito Santiago said representatives from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, the local governments of Bulacan province and the towns of Marilao, Meycauayan, San Jose del Monte, Sta. Maria and Obando, and the cities of Valenzuela and Caloocan would meet again this week to finalize plans to protect Bulacan?s waterways.

The Blacksmith Institute, an independent environment group based in New York, included the Marilao and Meycauayan rivers in its ?Dirty 30? or the worst polluted places in the world.

The institute?s report warned that ?all the sites in the ?Dirty 30? are very toxic and dangerous to human health.?

The rivers of Meycauayan, Marilao and Obando are interconnected and are collectively called by the Environmental Management Bureau as the Meycauayan River system.