SMC CHIEF WANTS CRABS TO PREVENT FLOODING AT PLANNED AIRPORT

San Miguel Corp., the Philippines’ largest company, wants to stop perennial flooding north of Manila where it’s planning to build a P735.6 billion ($15.1-billion) airport. Crabs may help it get the job done, Bloomberg reported on August 20, 2020.

The conglomerate, also the nation’s largest beermaker, will plant 190,000 mangroves in coastal areas near the capital to prevent flooding at the site of the proposed largest gateway in Bulakan, Bulacan, long populated by fishermen, subsistence farmers and fishpond operators.

To protect these forests, San Miguel will also grow 100,000 mud crabs monthly at the 10-hectare mangrove plantation in Bulacan province, SMC President Ramon Ang said in a statement. Mud crabs can be a source of livelihood for people in the area, he said. “These flood mitigation measures are all integral to airport development,” Ang said. It’s important to address these environmental concerns before investing over P700 billion for the airport, he added.

Small islands off Bulacan have been flooded for years while Obando town is perennially flooded despite the presence of fishponds in some of its barangays, leading some of its residents to think the town is sinking, like Bulakan town where the San Miguel airport is supposed to be built.