Adopt an Estero: More firms join greening of creeks

Nine companies have agreed to rehabilitate four polluted waterways in the cities of Mandaluyong and Valenzuela under the “Adopt an Estero” (creek) program of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).

The private firms forged partnerships with the DENR to “restore to life” the Maytunas and Buayang Bato creeks in Mandaluyong, and Veinte Reales and Sapang Bakaw creeks in Valenzuela, officials said on Friday.

Company representatives signed memorandums of agreement (MOA) at the DENR Central Office in Quezon City in the presence of officials from the DENR and other agencies, including the Metropolitan Development Authority (MMDA) and the Department of Public Works and Highways.

Toyota Shaw Inc., Edsa Shangri-La Manila Hotel and Shangri-La Plaza Corp. agreed to share responsibility in the cleanup of a two-kilometer stretch of Maytunas creek along Nueve de Febrero Street.

In another MOA, the chemical company Belman Laboratories Inc., industrial conglomerate Puyat Steel, and Legend Villas Hotel, committed to rehabilitate the Buayang Bato creek in Highway Hills.

Both the Maytunas and Buayang Bato creeks drain into the Pasig River.

In Valenzuela, packaging companies Flexo Manufacturing Corp. and Innovative Packaging Industry Corp. agreed to clean up a 1.2-km area of the Veinte Reales creek, while Amtes Corp. adopted a 625-meter section of Sapang Bakaw creek.

Both creeks are upstream of the Valenzuela-Meycauayan Rivers and drain into Manila Bay.

Under the MOAs, the companies agree to implement surface cleanup, provide engineering solutions such as the installation of trash traps, and introduce “greening interventions” like rip-rapping and the construction of linear parks along riverbanks. They also will assist in information and education campaigns and community mobilizations.

In a statement, Environment Secretary Ramon Paje said the new agreements were a big boost to the government’s efforts to rehabilitate dirty and clogged water channels in the metropolis.

He said the four new MOAs raised to 28 the number of partnerships that the DENR had forged with the private sector to revive 21 of Metro Manila’s major waterways under the Adopt an Estero program.

Nationwide, the DENR has entered into a total of 348 agreements with the private sector.

“We are completely overwhelmed by the commitment of these companies to take an active role in cleaning up our creeks and waterways,” Paje said. “Their support is strengthening the public-private partnership for the environment under the Aquino administration.”

The DENR, through the Environmental Management Bureau, will regularly monitor the water quality along selected areas of each creek, assist in the establishment of materials recovery facilities, facilitate actions against polluters, and assist in educational activities.

The MMDA and the DPWH-National Capital Region will also assist the companies in cleaning up the creeks. DJ Yap