Posted on March 17, 2025
Toss-it-and-forget-it culture plagues rivers, builds up trash seen behind airport flooding
Manila: San Miguel Corp. (SMC) has been rolling up its sleeves — quite literally — to tackle the decades-old muck and waste clogging up the waterways around Manila’s Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).
Their mission? To tackle to the notorious floods that have turned the airport into a surprise waterpark during typhoon season.
The SMC-led consortium, New NAIA Infrastructure Corp. (NNIC), signed a $3-billion (Php170.6) Public-Private Partnership (PPP) concession with the government to operate, maintain, and upgrade the airport for 25 years.
A Herculean cleanup effort
As part of their “Better Rivers PH” initiative, SMC has dredged up a staggering 129,862 tonnes of silt and solid waste from the rivers in Parañaque City.
This monumental task covered a stretch of 2.58 kilometers, targeting the Parañaque River, Don Galo River, and their junctions with the San Dionisio and Villanueva creeks.
Dredgers at work on Don Galo River in Manila, near NAIA, to help unclog waterways in Parañaque and improve rainwater flow to ease the flooding at Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) and surrounding areas.
The goal? To restore these waterways to their former glory and ensure that the surrounding communities and the airport itself remain high and dry.
A flashback to the flood of 2024
Let’s rewind to July 2024, when NAIA Terminal 4 found itself in an unplanned swimming event.
Heavy rains, supercharged by a typhoon-enhanced southwest monsoon, led to knee-deep flooding on the terminal’s apron.
This watery fiasco grounded flights and left airlines scrambling, quite literally, as their planes had nowhere to park.
A call to arms (and trash bins)
SMC’s top boss, Ramon Ang, isn’t just stopping at dredging.
He’s rallying coastal communities and stakeholders to put an end to the “toss-it-and-forget-it” mentality that’s been plaguing the rivers and roads.
Ang, an engineer, emphasizes that all these cleanup efforts will be in vain if people continue to treat waterways as convenient trash bins.
He’s urging everyone to embrace proper waste disposal practices to ensure that garbage doesn’t boomerang back into the rivers.
Beyond the rivers: Storm drains get a makeover
The cleanup drive doesn’t stop at the rivers. SMC has also been busy de-clogging storm drain lines along Domestic Road and NAIA Terminal 4.
This includes reopening 54 manholes and constructing 10 new ones, all in a bid to keep the airport complex flood-free. This massive undertaking didn’t cost the government or taxpayers a single peso.
SMC has also spent Php 2 billion to desilt, and dredge trash from Pasig River.
A sustainable future in sight
Ang acknowledges that flooding has been a perennial problem for both Parañaque and NAIA, especially during typhoon season.
However, with the “Better Rivers PH” program and the backing of government agencies, he’s optimistic that these sustainable solutions will bring lasting benefits to residents, businesses, and travelers alike.
Ang urged the communities involved to band together to help keep the floods at bay at the country’s major international gateway.
