DENR says 80 percent of rivers rehabilitated

 JARO, Iloilo City, Philippines  – At least 80 percent of the country’s 421 rivers had been rehabilitated, an official of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) said yesterday.

DENR Undersecretary for Policy and Planning Demetrio Ignacio said most of the rehabilitated rivers were in the provinces and the remaining 20 percent in Metro Manila.

“Together with local government units (LGUs) and private companies, we have been continuously conducting clean-up operations and rehabilitation activities to revive many of the country’s rivers including river basins.

However, much has yet to be done in Metro Manila’s rivers,” Ignacio said on the sidelines of the First Philippine International River Summit held here.

Ignacio said the DENR has enlisted the support of private corporations in the agency’s “Adopt-an-Estero” program. He said some 283 corporations have pledged their support for the project.

“We have also embarked on a water convergence program among the agencies dealing with the environment, agriculture, public works and local government.The idea is to catch the waters in the upland and divert them to support food production. We will therefore address flooding even before the waters become floodwaters,” he said.

“This summit will make people aware of the problem as well as the possible solutions that will guide LGUs on how to revive the country’s rivers, especially in their respective areas,” he added.

The Philippine International River Summit, a project of the DENR, Iloilo City government and co-presented by PLDT-Smart, was participated in by 1,203 delegates from 30 countries.