DENR turns over Marikina River rehab project to DPWH

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) recently turned over to the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) the Task Force Build Back Better’s Marikina River rehabilitation project to ensure its continuity after the Duterte administration.

Acting Environment Secretary Jim Sampulna said the move would mainstream the task force’s gains in the Marikina restoration project into the initiatives of the DPWH’s Unified Project Management Office-Flood Control Management Cluster.

“But the objective of the activity remains the same – to address the issue of perennial flooding in Marikina, Pasig and Quezon City,” Sampulna said, adding that the gains of the task force was proven by the “improved conditions in the Marikina and Pasig during intense rains last year.”

The transfer of implementation allows for the second segment of Phase 2 of the Marikina River Dredging Project to be adopted under Phase 4 of the DPWH’s Pasig-Marikina River Channel Improvement Project in partnership with the Japan International Cooperation Agency.

Phase 2 of the dredging consisted of two segments covering Barangays Santolan, Ugong and Caniogan in Pasig.

Sampulna said Segment 1, which started in July 2021, is almost complete with 30,420 cubic meters already dredged as of Nov. 2, 2021, resulting in the widening of the Marikina River on the side of Pasig by 12,840 square meters.

Phase 1 of the Marikina River restoration project was completed in July last year, or five months after it was launched in February.

The DENR said Phase 1 of the project resulted in the widening of the Marikina River by about 9,060 square meters after 41,625 cubic meters were dredged from three “chokepoints” along the Olandez sewage treatment plant, BF City and SM Marikina Riverbanks.

“This broadened the river to up to 100 meters and an additional depth of two meters,” Sampulna said.

Marikina Mayor Marcelino Teodoro commended the efforts of the DENR-led task force, saying that “great improvements in terms of reducing floods have been observed last year, especially in outlying areas along the river.”

Teodoro said the task force has also provided local officials with effective models for addressing the flooding problems in Marikina.

He said the Marikina City Council recently approved a resolution calling for the dredging of Marikina River by the local government instead of hiring contractors.

The city government has purchased new equipment and other dredging materials as a result of the lessons learned from the task force’s initiatives in the Marikina River, Teodoro said.