23,000 tons of waste collected from Central Luzon river systems connecting Manila Bay
About 23,000 tons of wastes have been collected from the tributaries of Manila Bay in Central Luzon since January 2021 as the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) continues its clean up efforts, a DENR director disclosed Monday, Aug. 23.

DENR Regional Executive Director Paquito Moreno said the figure was way higher than in 2019, or during the launching of the Battle for Manila Bay, wherein the department only collected more than 1,400 tons of mixed wastes.
According to Moreno, the DENR has doubled its efforts to clean the Manila Bay "through grubbing of rivers and creeks in Bataan, Bulacan, Pampanga, Tarlac, and Nueva Ecija."
"Grubbing is the mechanized removal of wastes already deposited at the bottom of rivers," he explained.
Moreno admitted that "a lot more" has to be done to rid the Manila Bay of wastes although there has been an enormous progress since the clean up campaign started.
​Currently, around 420 estero rangers ​have been deployed to​ Manila Bay ​in Central Luzon​ to conduct clean up and monitoring of rivers, beaches, and other bodies of water.
A total of 125 trash traps ​have​ also​ been​ installed in Bulacan, Bataan, and Pampanga to prevent solid wastes from reaching the coastlines of Manila Bay.
"We encourage everyone to religiously segregate their solid wastes at home and avoid using lots of single-used because this will help in the reduction of our daily garbage generation," Moreno said.