Tycoon Ramon Ang steps in, offers to help solve Metro Manila flooding

National

TYCOON Ramon Ang expressed willingness to help solve the perennial flooding problem in Metro Manila by spearheading massive clearing operations in waterways.

The billionaire said it will be done at no cost to the government and without fanfare too.

Ang, the President and CEO of San Miguel Corporation (SMC), made the proposal to local government units (LGUs) in the National Capital Region and to the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA), saying the company was ready to act as soon as areas needing intervention were identified.

“The LGUs simply have to identify the place affected by flooding and, without fanfare, we will immediately go down and fix the problem for them,” Ang told reporters during a media briefing at SMC’s main office in Pasig, as quoted in a Philstar report.

Ang emphasized the urgency of dredging and widening waterways while removing accumulated garbage and sediments. He asked only for “approval and full cooperation” from LGUs so the cleanup could proceed.

The offer builds on SMC’s Better Rivers PH program, which since 2020 has undertaken large-scale dredging and cleanup work in key waterways such as the Tullahan and Navotas Rivers, Pasig and San Juan Rivers, and rivers in Parañaque City as well as Bulacan, Pampanga, and Laguna.

Program manager Jimmy Lu reported that 8.52 million cubic meters of waste have been cleared from over 163 kilometers of rivers under the initiative.

Manila Mayor Isko Moreno, who attended the briefing, urged the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to work closely with LGUs on infrastructure projects. He cited the Sunog-Apog pumping station in Tondo and three other pumping stations along Roxas Boulevard, built by DPWH but still non-operational.(MyTV Cebu)