Maynilad, together with the National Commission on Indigenous People, PLDT-Smart, DENR, MWSS, and the Bulacan local government recently planted 2,500 saplings on a portion of the Ipo Dam watershed, which is home to 10,000 Dumagat families. The tree planting activity is part of the participating companies and government agencies’ 3-year plan to reforest the watershed.
Some 12 million people living in Metro Manila and adjoining towns rely on Ipo Dam and the Angat and La Mesa watersheds for their daily supply of potable water. Experts say that it may take up to 20 years to revive Ipo Dam, with more than 3,500 hectares of the watershed now heavily deforested.
In the photo are Dumagat volunteers, Maynilad President Rogelio Singson and Ipo Dam Headworks Controller and Kagawad Romeo San Jose (seventh and twelfth from left respectively) of Brgy. San Mateo, Norzaragay, Bulacan.