Senator Cynthia Villar, the proponent of the Las Piñas Zapote River Drive project, is confident that its completion is preventing flooding and solving the traffic problem in Las Piñas City.
So far, 24 kilometers have been completed for the last 9 years starting in 2012 until 2020 and five (5) kms more is slated to be built in the next two years (2021 & 2022).
“The project is being completed in phases and we have seen the improvements so far in terms of flood prevention and traffic flow in the river drive areas. So, we will continue to extend the coverage of the project to 29 kilometers in next two years,” (2021-2022) said Villar.
Villar said Zapote and Las Pinas River Drive, as well as the Molino River Drive, do not just ease flooding and traffic woes.
“With the river drive, we also closely maintain the cleanliness of the river, which can be considered as the ‘artery’ of the city and nearby areas too. The people living along the river cannot throw their wastes anymore into the rivers because there is a road and the houses are fenced,” she said.
Villar has spent decades since 2001 ensuring the cleaning, maintenance, and rehabilitation of the Las Piñas Zapote River, which used to be clogged with garbage impeding the flow of water that cause massive flooding.
She put up livelihood projects that now use wastes such as water hyacinths, waste coconut husks and plastic wastes (that used to pollute the river) as raw materials. Her Sagip-Ilog project won for her the United Nations “Best Practices Award” in 2011, which recognized the project for protecting water resources and providing livelihood to Filipinos
For next two years (2021-2022), she said the Molino River Drive phase will be built, stretching a total of 5 kms, from Daanghari road to the river along Barangay Molino III and Molino VI until it connects to Zapote River.
The very first phase of the River Drive Project was the 18-km Zapote River Drive along Zapote River aimed at preventing flooding in the city and solving the traffic congestion along Zapote-Alabang Road because it serves as an alternate road.
The River Drive Project started at the end of C-5 Extension Road in Barangay Pulanglupa I to Alido Bridge and continuing to an underpass in Zapote Bridge in Barangay Zapote on to Barangays Pamplona I, Pamplona II, Talon II, Moonwalk, Talon I, Almanza II then to Daang Hari Road connected to the MCX Expressway.
The second phase was the 6-km Las Piñas River Drive which started at C-5 Extension Road in Barangay Pulanglupa I then to Barangay Pulanglupa II, Pamplona III up to CAA Road.
In 2021-2022, the 5-km Molino River Drive from Daanghari to Barangay Molino III and Molino VI in Bacoor, Cavite will be constructed. It will connect the Zapote River Drive to the Manila Bay area.