Rivers restored and maintained by San Miguel Corporation’s Better Rivers PH program carried record stormwater volumes over two weeks of heavy rain, sharply reducing flood risks and demonstrating the environmental and life-safety value of cleared waterways.
On Aug. 17, PAGASA recorded 201.7mm of rain in five hours in Quezon City—nearly half Ondoy’s 2009 total—pushing parts of the San Juan River past critical levels in Quezon City, though downstream areas in San Juan and Mandaluyong stayed clear. No major overflow hit the Tullahan River, Laguna waterways, NAIA, or Las Piñas-Zapote rivers, where SMC has removed millions of tons of silt and waste since 2020 at no government cost.
SMC chief Ramon S. Ang noted river restoration alone cannot stop flooding; clogged drains and solid waste block smaller channels, causing localized floods. Better Rivers PH, now aligned with Oplan Kontra Baha, has cleared 9.387 million tons of silt and waste across 204 km of waterways in Luzon and recently expanded to Cebu’s Butuanon River.
