THE Ancillary Services Unit (ASU) reported collecting a total of 148 truckloads of trash and silt from various parts of Davao City as of June 2025.
Engineer Japheth Caballero, drainage team lead of ASU, said that in June alone, their teams conducted 42 operations and cleared 4,970 linear meters of canals. To carry out these efforts, ASU deployed three teams in the morning, two in the afternoon, and one in the evening, excluding augmentation teams from the City Engineer’s Office (CEO) and the City Environment and Natural Resources Office (Cenro).
“Remind the residents na permente ang pagbaha sa siyudad kita mismo magsugod ta ug panlimpyo sa atoang kanal (Flooding in the city is frequent. Let’s take the initiative to clean our own canals),” Caballero urged residents during the ISpeak media forum held Thursday morning, July 3, 2025, at the City Mayor’s Office (CMO).
He encouraged Dabawenyos to dispose of garbage properly to prevent clogging waterways.
Caballero also highlighted the efforts of Bantay Dagat volunteers, who collected around 1,533 sacks of trash during weekly Saturday morning cleanups along riverbanks and coastal areas.
Cenro announced plans to acquire a vacuum and jetting truck later this year. Caballero said this new equipment will significantly improve the removal of hardened mud, silt, and debris from the city's drainage system.
He noted that within the downtown area, ASU collects both trash and silt, while in outlying areas, the focus is on clearing silt, mud, vegetation, and sand.
Caballero expressed hopes that ASU’s equipment inventory will grow in the coming years to include backhoes, more jetting trucks, and additional dump trucks to enhance project efficiency.
Due to limited equipment, ASU currently borrows machinery from the CEO and dump trucks from CENRO for its operations. RGP