To help mitigate the perennial problem of flooding in the city of Marikina, Mayor Marcy Teodoro announced on Wednesday the city government's plan to plant bamboo trees along the banks of Marikina River.

During the pilot dredging of the initially identified illegally-reclaimed portions of the waterway, Teodoro said the planting of bamboo trees is a suitable slope protection for the river's embankment to improve its capability to contain excess rainwater during storms and typhoons.

Teodoro added that in order for the city to not purchase bamboo trees for the project, the city government is eyeing to create a one-hectare bamboo nursery.

“It is not something that we need to buy that will cost the government so much money but something that we could cultivate together in a nursery, and at the proper time, we could plant together,” he said.

“Being a downstream river, a catch basin, a valley, it is natural that Marikina will be flooded. But the idea really is to mitigate, through this activity, by widening and deepening the water channel,” he added.

Teodoro also promised to improve the city's disaster response capabilities.

“At higit sa lahat naniniwala ang Marikina na ang pagtutulungan ay mahalaga. A whole-of-government approach and a whole-of-society approach are imperative (Marikina City believes that teamwork is essential, a whole-of-government approach and a whole-of-society approach are imperative,” he said.