Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 25) — San Miguel Corporation (SMC) reaffirmed its commitment to build the Pasig River Expressway (PAREX) as a safe, reliable, and sustainable infrastructure, which the diversified conglomerate said will be crucial for the country’s recovery amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a statement, SMC President and CEO Ramon Ang added the ₱95-billion project that will link the eastern and western sections of Metro Manila will also complement SMC’s five-year rehabilitation effort for the Pasig River, which started in July last year.
“In all our major infrastructure projects, we always take into consideration the effects on the environment, putting greater emphasis on how we can build the infrastructure while at the same time preserve or enhance the environment. We engage all stakeholders and in particular, partner with local communities to ensure environmental measures and mitigations are successful for the long-term,” Ang said.
The 19.37-kilometer road linking Rizal province and the City of Manila will be a model road infrastructure and a hybrid infrastructure that will further enhance accessibility and ease traffic decongestion, while also encouraging multiple modes of transportation.
Its design will incorporate green architecture principles as SMC has partnered with Felino “Jun” Palafox – the country’s top urban planner and green architect.
“For the PAREX project, our approach will be the same – we are designing not just infrastructure, but an urban landscape. We are promoting sustainability through architecture, with a holistic vision,” Palafox explained.
SMC is also planning to put a Bus Rapid Transit on PAREX and the existing Skyway system, which will interconnect to complete the north-to-south and east-to-west connection throughout the capital. This will enable faster, safer, and affordable commutes for Filipinos, Ang said.
Meanwhile, Ang reported that the ₱2-billion Pasig River cleanup project has so far extracted some 295,260 metric tons of silt and solid waste since it began last year.
The company maintains a daily output of at least 2,000 MT to reach 600,000 MT annually.
He added that the NYK of Japan has also joined their efforts and committed $1.2 million worth of equipment expected to arrive by April.
Currently, two shallow portions of the river are the primary focus: the mouth of river near the Manila Bay, and the area at the Marikina River junction.
“We’re also prioritizing the Marikina River junction as this section acts as sort of a bottleneck, where water flowing from the Marikina river is restricted, therefore becoming a partial cause of the massive flooding in areas upstream of the Marikina river,” Ang said.
As for the deeper portions of the river, SMC has successfully made progress in the Pandacan/Sta. Mesa, Paco/San Miguel area. According to hydrographic or depth surveys before and after dredging, sections that only measured two to three meters deep are now more than five to six meters deep.
In effect, flooding will be reduced – or can quickly subside – in many areas in Pasig, Makati, Mandaluyong, and Manila during rainy seasons, Ang said.
