August rains pushed more waste into the waterway.
BecomingFilipino has resurfaced his 2018 photos of the garbage-filled Baclaran Redemptorist Water Channel, which has accumulated even more waste after intense rains brought by the enhanced habagat.
The page is run by Canada-born vlogger Kyle “Kulas” Jennermann, who became a naturalized Filipino citizen in 2023.
In an Aug. 14 Threads post, Jennerman shared a screenshot of his June 30, 2018, Facebook post showing the same waterway in Parañaque covered in plastic bottles, food containers, styrofoam, wood, and other debris.
“The exact same canal of garbage in Metro Manila. Eight years later… it happened again,” Jennerman wrote.
The recent buildup came after persistent heavy rains displaced a “trash trap,” allowing garbage carried by waters from Manila Bay to enter and accumulate in the channel, according to the Parañaque City government.
The city held a four-day clean-up operation from Aug. 10 to 14, in which a total of 203 truckloads, or 748.87 metric tons (2,246.6 cubic meters), of garbage were hauled from the channel. It also shared before-and-after photos showing the waterway after the cleanup, saying that “all the garbage” had been “cleared away.”
In a Facebook post, it also noted that high tide pushed garbage into the channel, “further worsened by garbage coming from upstream areas that flowed into Paranaque’s rivers and creeks.”
The city asked the public to “follow proper garbage disposal procedures so that clogged waterways will not be a problem again.”
A photo of the Aug. 10 situation also gained attention on the Reddit community “r/Philippines.” Many commenters noted that while some citizens may be irresponsible with their garbage, the problem also points to longstanding issues in waste management and the need for better systems.
“While the people are also to blame, the government is severely lacking in garbage management,” a commenter said.
“Oo, may mga iresponsableng tao. Pero malaki rin ang responsibilidad ng LGU sa usapin ng basura. Proper government intervention can encourage people to do the right thing, especially when proper systems and incentives are in place,” another commenter said.
Jennermann’s 2018 post focused on his own struggle to reduce plastic use, admitting that he still used it despite trying to cut back and urging others to do the same.
His latest post ended with the same message years ago: “We can all do better.”
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