MANILA — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. urged the public and commercial sectors as well as Filipino residents to use shared accountability and collective discipline to protect the country’s waterways.

On Friday, January 16, he presided over the opening of the Aglipay Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) in Mandaluyong City by Manila Water and Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System.

In his speech, the president stated, “Clean facilities must be matched by clean habits. Proper wastewater systems must be complemented by responsible waste disposal.”

Wastewater collected via a 53-kilometer combined sewer-drainage system would be fully treated before being released into the Pasig River, according to concessionaire Manila Water, ensuring compliance to Department of Environment and Natural Resources standards.

According to Manila Water, the new STP would serve an estimated 652,000 households and has an initial capacity of 60 million liters per day that may be expanded to 120 MLD.

The plant was constructed to collect and process household wastewater from a 2,115-hectare catchment area that includes parts of Quezon City, San Juan, and Mandaluyong.

As part of Manila Water’s and MWSS’s larger plan to increase sewerage coverage in the East Zone, the Megawide Consortium was given the project in December 2019.

It is now completely operational, having started commissioning in August 2025.

Marcos Jr. said, “By reducing pollution flowing into rivers within its service area, this facility will improve local water quality. It also supports the long-term rehabilitation of Manila Bay by limiting the pollution load that eventually reaches our seas,”

As he emphasized the government’s commitment to bolstering water and sanitation facilities throughout Metro Manila and beyond, Marcos Jr. said that five additional wastewater treatment plants across service areas are currently under construction.

According to him, by 2047, the government wants 74% of homes in Cavite, Rizal, and Metro Manila to have access to sewage systems. “Proper sanitation services,” he added, would take care of the rest.

“This means that no community is left without safe and responsible wastewater management,” he stated.

Through concessionaires like Manila Water and Maynilad Water Services Inc., the government has privatized the management of water and wastewater.