San Miguel Corporation (SMC) is hiring former residents of Barangay Taliptip in Bulacan--site of its upcoming P740 billion Manila International Airport project—as heavy equipment operators.
This will be for its ongoing P1 billion Tullahan river dredging project and eventually for the Bulacan river systems and Pasig cleanup initiatives.
The workers are graduates from the initial batch of former Taliptip residents who underwent SMC-funded training with the Technical Education Development and Skills Authority (TESDA) on Heavy Equipment Operation.
SMC President Ramon S. Ang said that the deployment of the initial batch of Taliptip graduates to these river cleanup projects will allow them to earn income, and get additional training in preparation for the airport project.
“For the 12 that graduated the heavy equipment operations course, this will be their practical, on-the-job training. They can put the things they learned into actual practice,” Ang said.
He added that, “This will allow them to further hone their skills and prepare them for the airport construction. More significantly, this means they will now start earning from the skills they just acquired while making a difference.”
SMC is in the initial stage of its P1 billion Tullahan-Tinajeros river dredging project with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources for the 27-kilometer river system that spans from the Manila Bay in Navotas City to the La Mesa Dam in Quezon City.
The firm is currently dredging the Tullahan river section from Barangay Tanong in Malabon City, to the mouth of the river leading to Manila Bay in Navotas City.
Also in the pipeline is the river channel improvement of tributaries belonging to the Marilao-Meycauayan-Obando River System (MMORS) in Bulacan, which was recently hit by heavy flooding caused by the recent typhoons.
Ang said SMC’s plan is to dredge, widen, and deepen the Alipit or Taliptip River, Sta. Maria River, and the Meycauayan River as part of its flood mitigation strategy for the Manila International Airport that will also benefit the whole of Bulacan.
Meanwhile, its Pasig River dredging project is part of its P95.4 bilion proposal to build the Pasig River Expressway, to be built on the banks of the historic but long polluted river.