San Miguel Corporation Completes Cleanup of Pampanga River

​San Miguel Corporation (SMC) scored another victory in its ambitious attempt to help reduce floods throughout Luzon, as it just finished its vast Pampanga River cleanup work, removing about 700,000 tons of silt and solid trash.

​From mid-August to December, SMC cleaned about 694,372 cubic meters of silt and solid trash from 26.3 kilometers of the Pampanga River as part of its ongoing "Better Rivers Ph" campaign.

The project, directed by SMC Chairman and CEO Ramon S. Ang and completed at no expense to the government or taxpayers, significantly deepened the river channels and enhanced water flow out to Manila Bay.

“Flooding is a major issue for our cities and provinces, with many contributing factors. For our part, we’re committed to do what we can to clean up our river systems and help government and our communities,” said Ang.

He emphasized the importance of cleaning up the Pampanga River: “The Pampanga River is a major waterway in Central Luzon. Waters from here go to many other provinces, including Bulacan, which is downstream.”
 
“Since the river was already quite shallow due to siltation and pollution, during heavy rain, water would easily overflow in many areas, affecting farmlands and communities and even contributing to flooding in other areas. So, it was imperative for us to come here and help clean up the river,” said Ang.

In Macabebe, a riverside fishing town in Pampanga, Vice Mayor Vince Flores says the dredging of the Pampanga River represents more than just a cleanup.
 
“It’s a lifeline for a town burdened by its role as a natural catch basin,” Flores said in an interview last November. “Floodwaters from Nueva Ecija and San Fernando end up here. Before this (river cleanup), it took days, even weeks, for water to recede. Now, with deeper channels, the flood subsides faster.”
 
The effort, he added, is critical not just for flood mitigation but also for rebuilding the local economy, mentioning how river silt has been utilized to strengthen dikes and coastal roads.

The vice mayor stated that part of the silt is utilized as paving materials to raise vital public infrastructure in Macabebe, such as schools.

The Pampanga River cleaning joins SMC's roster of accomplished river programs, which includes a large cleanup of the Bulacan River systems last year, when it retrieved approximately 4.31 million metric tons (M/T) of silt and debris from 74.5 kilometers of rivers.

These include major waterways such as the Taliptip-Maycapiz-Bambang, Meycauayan, Marilao, Mailad-Sta. Maria, Guiguinto, Balagtas, Pamarawan, Kalero, and Labangan-Angat Rivers.

Better Rivers PH, which began in 2020, has now covered 156.42 kilometers of rivers, removing a total of 8,348,440 M/T of silt and solid waste as of January 2, 2025.

This includes 1.12 M/T removed from 10.9 km of Tullahan River, 1.18 M/T removed from 26 km of Pasig River, 322,739 M/T taken from 7.61 km of San Juan River, and 417,044 M/T removed from 5.3 km of San Pedro River, in addition to its Bulacan and Pampanga cleanups and other continuing initiatives in Metro Manila and south Luzon.
 
Ang underscored how SMC’s commitment to cleaning up major rivers bears the company’s time-honored value of “malasakit,” recognizing how Filipinos living in coastal communities would be protected in terms of economic and safety risks.

“As an added benefit, our Better Rivers PH cleanup enables safer operations of water ferries like along Pasig River, and even improves water quality — and people say it reduces foul odors, and, of course, it restores marine ecosystems,” Ang said. “So, it really makes us happy to continue providing this service to the Filipino people.”