Want to help? Return the mangroves

Braggadocio dripping to the floor, San Miguel Corp. (SMC) president Ramon S. Ang last Friday offered to end the pernicious Metro Manila floods “at no cost to the government.”

“Kami na gagawa, (t*ng in*ng) ang daming solusyon, ang daming perang pinaguusapan, San Miguel na mag-ki-clearing (We’ll do it, [son of a b**] so many solutions, so much money being talked about, San Miguel will do the clearing),” the SMC bigshot blurted out.

RSA called for the media briefing, with Manila Mayor Isko Moreno and a Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) official by his side, to counter rising criticism about the conglomerate’s massive projects that are contributing to the capital region’s flooding woes.

He denied that the construction of the SMC-funded Skyway 4 tollway and the elevated MRT-7 train system led to key roadways being submerged during downpours.

The pressure on RSA has increased significantly with the ongoing construction of the humongous Bulacan airport on a swamp that once had an expanse of mangroves that served as a natural barrier against rising water and storm surges and protected the shorelines from erosion.

A paper called Counter-Environmental Impact Assessment (Counter-EIA), published in 2023 by the School of Social Sciences, Ateneo de Manila University, detailed how the removal of the mangroves for the New Manila International Airport (NMIA) worsened the flooding, particularly in the surrounding towns of Hagonoy and Malolos.

The study indicated that the construction had cleared significant mangrove areas. Once abundant forests have been replaced by reclaimed land, disrupting the coastal ecosystem.

Another study by Filipino-American geologist Kelvin Rodolfo said Manila Bay’s rapid subsidence of four to six centimeters (cm) a year compounded the flooding when the mangroves were removed.

The flooding has caused economic displacement as it damages fishponds and agricultural lands, reducing farmers’ and fisherfolk’s incomes in Hagonoy and Malolos, where livelihoods depend on coastal and inland resources.

SMC initiated a program to plant 190,000 mangrove trees across 76 hectares in Central Luzon to offset the ecological damage, but the Counter-EIA report said this was woefully inadequate since it was a fraction of the 2,500 hectares of land that was cleared.

Mangroves take years to mature and provide the same ecological benefits, leaving communities vulnerable in the interim.

The removal of the mangroves altered the water flows to affect the broader Manila Bay area, including Metro Manila’s coastal cities like Manila, Navotas and Malabon, which are low-lying and flood-prone.

Manila Bay’s tidal and river systems connect Bulacan to Metro Manila. The study said water flow patterns were changed by the NMIA, increasing water intrusion into downstream areas.

Metro Manila, situated along Manila Bay and at the mouth of the Pasig-Marikina River system, is vulnerable to flooding from both upstream — like the Bulacan rivers — and coastal sources, which the loss of the mangroves aggravates.

The mangroves were provided by nature for a purpose: to control the flow of water from the flatlands of Bulacan.

If RSA truly wants to help, SMC should return the mangroves and relocate the airport to an area where it would cause less ecological damage.