PARAÑAQUE CITY — What started as a massive buildup of garbage in the Baclaran waterway has turned into a stark reminder of Metro Manila’s long-running waste-management problem.
Authorities have hauled an estimated 300 tons of garbage from the Baclaran estero in Parañaque City, filling more than 50 truckloads after days of heavy rain caused enormous amounts of waste to accumulate in the waterway.
The clearing operation began after the waterway became overwhelmed with debris during the period of persistent rains and high tide. Authorities used a floating trash boom pulled by a dredger to gather and remove the garbage, while personnel from the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), Parañaque’s City Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO), and the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) also entered the estero to manually remove waste.
WHY DID SO MUCH GARBAGE END UP IN BACLARAN?
According to local authorities, a significant portion of the debris came from Manila Bay.
Parañaque CENRO officer-in-charge Bernie Amurao said the volume was unusually high and that the garbage was not necessarily generated within Parañaque alone.
The Baclaran estero has two trash catchments intended to prevent garbage from Manila Bay from entering the waterway. However, the first catchment was damaged by strong waves, while the second had been temporarily removed because of scheduled dredging work.
That combination allowed a huge amount of floating debris to enter the estero.
DPWH Secretary Vince Dizon, who personally inspected the area, described the situation as a “garbage crisis,” saying the incident demonstrated the seriousness of the country’s waste problem.
A “SEA OF GARBAGE”
The scale of the buildup shocked residents and workers in the area.
GMA News reported that the garbage became so dense during the peak of the accumulation that people could reportedly walk across portions of the debris. Much of the submerged waste had already been removed by the time of the report, although floating garbage remained visible.
Longtime Baclaran vendor Clarita Medina, who has been in the area since 1979, said she had experienced numerous typhoons and periods of habagat but had never seen the estero filled with garbage to this extent.
For workers, however, the cleanup was more than a difficult job—it was a hazardous one.
Personnel said the mud and contaminated water reached their knees, while sharp debris hidden beneath the surface posed additional risks. GMA News also reported that sanitation workers said they were taking doxycycline as protection against leptospirosis because of their exposure to contaminated water.
THE CLEANUP IS ONLY PART OF THE STORY
The 300 tons already removed may sound like the end of the crisis, but environmental advocates argue that simply hauling garbage away does not address the source of the problem.
The Baclaran incident has also reignited discussion about how the Philippines manages plastic and other waste that eventually reaches waterways and the sea.
On August 12, environmental groups criticized the government’s growing focus on waste-to-energy facilities, arguing that waste reduction, plastic reduction and better implementation of existing solid-waste policies must also be addressed. GMA News reported that Oceana cited the continued flow of single-use plastics into the economy as a major underlying problem.
The groups pointed to Republic Act No. 9003, the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000, which provides a framework for waste reduction, segregation and responsible solid-waste management.
The Environmental Management Bureau-NCR has likewise emphasized that keeping waterways clean requires shared responsibility among government agencies, barangays, communities and the public, alongside proper waste disposal and stronger solid-waste practices.
FROM 300 TONS TODAY TO ANOTHER 300 TONS TOMORROW?
That is the question now confronting authorities.
The Baclaran cleanup demonstrates how quickly garbage accumulated in a waterway when heavy rain, high tide and damaged or temporarily unavailable trash-control infrastructure combined.
The immediate clearing operation can remove what is already there. But unless the flow of waste into waterways is reduced and trash-capture systems are maintained and strengthened, another period of intense rain could once again turn the estero into a collection point for Manila Bay’s floating debris.
For now, more than 300 tons of garbage have been hauled away.
But the bigger challenge is making sure those 300 tons do not become just the first installment of another much larger cleanup.
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