PASIG CITY, (PIA) -- The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) on Friday raised alarm over trash, which clogged pumping stations and drainages that cause flooding in the metropolis following heavy rains due to the Southwest Monsoon or “Habagat.”

High volume of garbage was seen at the San Andres Pumping Station in Manila City during an inspection led by Chairperson Benhur Abalos, MMDA Flood Control and Sewerage Management Office (FCSMO) Director Baltazar Melgar, and Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) official Mike Bagon.

While the agency is boosting its efforts in cleanup operations, Abalos said the public must do their part by managing their garbage properly.  

Abalos said garbage deliberately thrown on the streets end up clogging canals, drainage systems, waterways and eventually pumping stations, citing “If machineries of pumping stations are clogged, how can they work properly?”   

“It will be a never-ending cycle. People throw garbage, then we conduct cleanup operations. It’s time we break the cycle. Let us exercise discipline in managing our trash properly,” said Abalos.

Abalos also raised the need to deploy marshals that will impose sanctions or community service for those who recklessly throw garbage to teach them a lesson.

“I am appealing to everyone, let us stop throwing garbage on the streets. We shall deploy marshals to apprehend violators and let them clean waterways by way of community service in order to teach them a lesson in caring for the environment,” said Abalos.

FCSMO workers, for their part, regularly conduct declogging and dredging operations of drainages and waterways in major thoroughfares in Metro Manila. The program is one of the mitigating measures of the agency even before the onset of the rainy season.

The agency has 67 pumping stations located in strategic areas in Metro Manila all operational this rainy season.

Meanwhile, Abalos revealed that the MMDA and the DPWH are working on the modernization and rehabilitation of pumping stations under the Metro Manila Flood Management Project.

Under the MMFMP, 20 new pumping stations is set to be constructed over a period of four years: Cutcut in Pasay; Romualdez in Manila; Maytunas in Mandaluyong-San Juan; Buhangin in Mandaluyong; Casili in Caloocan-Manila; Ilugin River in Pasig; Isla in Valenzuela, Damayang Lagi, Del Monte, Dona Imelda, Kalusugan, Mariblo, Masambong, Matalahib-Talayan, Progreso, Roxas, Sobrepena, Sta. Cruz, Talaya, and Tatalon in Quezon City. (MMDA/PIA-NCR)