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Cimatu eyes crackdown on illegal structures along Pasig River –PRRC


Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu, who now chairs the Pasig River Rehabilitation Commission (PRRC), is planning demolish illegal structures along the Pasig River, its esteros, and other waterways in Metro Manila.

In a release from the PRRC on Thursday, Cimatu announced the move last Tuesday when he visited the Commission's head office for the first time since President Rodrigo Duterte signed Executive Order 90 that transferred the chairmanship of the PRRC's Board of Commissioners to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).

Cimatu plans of "recovering the easements of the Pasig River and its connecting tributaries or esteros, as well as all waterways in the National Capital Region."

“Ayusin natin ang easements. Linisin natin. Maintain the 3-meter easements. ‘Yan ang ating gagawin sa lahat ng esteros sa Metro Manila,” the secretary was quoted as saying in the release.

Likewise, the PRRC said Cimatu vowed to dismantle structures and properties that were unlawfully built along the Pasig river. “May ibang establishments nandiyan. Aalisin natin ‘yan. We will enforce and implement the easement law."

Also, the PRRC said the move was aimed to "unify" the government’s rehabilitation efforts for the Pasig River and the Manila Bay.

"Hence, Cimatu aimed to discuss the directions that the DENR and PRRC would take under the new leadership," it added.

The PRRC noted it has already resettled almost 20,000 families of informal settlers to safe and decent housing facilities and have already developed more than 41,000 linear meters of environmental preservation areas in the form of linear parks, walkways, and greenbelts in the Pasig River System since 2009. —Margaret Claire Layug/LBG, GMA News

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