I HEARD many people are getting the jab in Malabon City led by Mayor Lenlen Oreta. The good mayor earlier eyed to inoculate 118,000 of Malabon’s more than 365,000 population.

Malabon has been vaccinating 1,100 residents daily since its vaccination program started in March in support of the inoculation campaign of the government. If Oreta sustains this, vaccination in Malabon would be fully completed by February next year.

In fact, the drive could be finished earlier since the mayor is planning to expand its current 11 teams of vaccinators and its five inoculation sites at the Ospital ng Malabon, Acacia Elementary School, Malabon National High School, Potrero Elementary School, and Longos Elementary School.

Oreta secured a supply of vaccines for Malabon via a tripartite agreement between the city government, national government and pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca.

Meanwhile, Malabon has explored all possible measures to boost its vaccination program. One of which is to provide free shuttle services to residents qualified to get COVID-19 vaccine shots.

Local transport associations and drivers were tapped to fetch residents scheduled for vaccination each day. They will be transported from the pick-up points in their barangays to their designated vaccination sites.

To provide economic opportunities, the city government hired drivers hard-hit by the pandemic.

Most importantly, the city government is avoiding vaccine wastage by having the necessary logistical requirements including freezers, vaccine carriers, refrigerators, and the dial thermometer for cold-chain monitoring.

As we can see, Malabon is not only doing the vaccination fast. The city is also doing it right.

Good job Mayor Lenlen!

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In partnership with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, other national government agencies, and Metro Manila mayors, San Miguel Corporation recently launched its ambitious, five-year plan to clean up and rehabilitate the Pasig River.

The project is set to become the largest ever river rehabilitation project in the country, with SMC president Ramon S. Ang announcing that the company’s budget for the undertaking is being doubled to P2 billion.

SMC president Ramon Ang said there have been many cleanup efforts in the past, and government has successfully implemented a number of programs these past few years but decades of pollution and compounding problems that have rendered the river biologically dead since the 1990s are too significant and complex to overcome–even for the best-intentioned advocates and organizations.

Ang hopes that with the resources and technical know-how SMC and its partners are bringing into the effort today–along with the continued support of our national government agencies and local government units—they can all make a bigger difference.

Present at the simple launching ceremony were DENR Sec. Roy Cimatu, MMDA chairman Benhur Abalos, Manila Mayor Isko Moreno Domagoso, Mandaluyong Mayor Menchie Abalos, DILG Usec. Epimaco Densing III, DPWH Asec. Antonio Mulano, and PCG Station Commander for Pasig Crisanto Anas.

To further underscore the problem of pollution in the Pasig River, Ang cited a study published by OurWorldinData.org last May that Pasig River has emerged as the top plastics polluter of oceans in the world.

Our World in Data is a collaborative effort between researchers at the University of Oxford and UK-based non-profit, Global Change Data Lab.

Joining the Pasig River in the top 10 list of rivers in the world that have the highest share of plastics emitted are six other rivers in the Philippines: the Tullahan River (no. 4), Meycauayan River (no.5), Pampanga River (no.6) Libmanan river (no.7), Rio Grande de Mindanao (no.9) and Agno river (no.10).

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