Acknowledging that urban industrialization has an environmental effect on the water quality of Lanao del Sur’s Matling River, the Ministry of Environment, Natural Resources, and Energy (MENRE) – BARMM and the Matling Industrial and Commercial Corporation (MICC) enter into a partnership to conduct massive cleanup of the said waterbody.

The partnership, through a Memorandum of Agreement, was sealed on 12 December 2022 at the MENRE Regional Office in Cotabato City, with Bangsamoro Director General Atty. Badr E. Salendab and Environment Management Services (EMS) Director Jalani M. Pamlian representing MENRE, and Chief Operating Officer Luzallie B. Mancilla and Pollution Control Officer Engr. Reza Handog representing MICC. Both parties aim to reduce pollution incidents at Matling River.

One of the major responsibilities of the MENRE in this agreement is to monitor if there are improvements in the water quality of the stream, while the MICC will lead in the river cleanup and assist in the information campaign to increase community awareness and involvement in the environmental effort.

The MOA signing is part of the Adopt-an-Estero program of the MENRE-EMS, which is a collaborative undertaking between and among donor-partner, local government units and government agencies, targeting to adopt and clean a water body and sustain its cleanliness.