Manila mayor to public: Let’s clean up

MANILA, Philippines – Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim called on the public Sunday to work hand in hand with the government gathering garbage left behind by the recent floods that hit Metro Manila and nearby provinces.

“Let’s help in cleaning up our surroundings.  There must be citizen involvement…,” he said, suggesting that collected trash be put in waste bags or trash bins.

Lim said village chiefs must lead their people in cleaning up their own environment as garbage creates huge landfills that destroys the natural beauty of the landscape and causes harm to animals and the wildlife.

The mayor earlier commended city officials and personnel from Manila City Hall’s engineers office and department of public services who worked double time to siphon off the roughly 16 feet floodwater that filled up the Recto underpass following days of continuous heavy downpour in Manila and many other parts of the country.

Lim rewarded participants with cash incentives as a token of appreciation for their hard work, the mayor’s office said.

Lim also went to Sta. Mesa, Manila for the city government’s continuing assistance to residents displaced by flooding during the recent monsoon rains.

Meanwhile, Metropolitan Manila Development Authority Chairman Francis Tolentino said their office, with the help of other government agencies, collected 50 trucks of garbage, estimated to be around 300 tons, along Roxas Boulevard in Manila Sunday as part of their continuing clean-up drive in Manila Bay. Jamie Marie Elona