The Pasig River: Attempts at revival?

Picture the families holding an old-fashioned picnic by the banks of a river. They have just gotten back from Sunday mass and are now relishing the time that they have with each other after a very long week’s work. There are no malls yet that could draw the crowds from public parks so a riverside is certainly ideal for these idyllic settings. Now imagine the Pasig River. It may be hard to believe but the Pasig River was a favored spot of picnic goers before the Second World War.

Photo: “Riding a Pasig River Ferry” by Roberto Verzo, c/o Flickr. Some Rights Reserved.

The Pasig River is a major body of water that divides Metro Manila into two areas. It passes through more than half the cities and municipalities in the metropolitan area and it connects Manila Bay to Luzon’s largest lake – Laguna de Bay. To most people nowadays, Pasig River would likely mean one thing – pollution. If you’ve ever gotten close enough to the river, it would be very easy to see just how dead and dirty it is. There are patches of floating trash in a lot of areas of the river and the smell that emanates from the fermenting garbage is absolutely memorable; and not in a good way.

The river has an overall span of 25 kilometers. There are thirteen bridges all over the city that span the gap created by the river to traffic. Among the more recognizable of these bridges include the Jones Bridge in the Binondo-Ermita Area, the McArthur Bridge and the Del Pan Bridge in Tondo.

History

The Pasig River thanks to its very strategic location in the city’s heart was once a very important body of water both economically and politically. Even before the Spanish occupations, the various kingdoms that were set up in Manila called the banks of the river as their home. The waterway served as an important source of food, drinking water and of course, trade coming from nearby places locally or even with sea bound traders like the Chinese.

When the Philippines was eventually assimilated as a colony of Spain, the river still remained a very important body of water for the colonizers. They built the walled city of Intramuros very near the mouth of the river that opens to the Manila Bay and benefited well from the strategic location of the city and river with respect to the harbour. This part of the river used to have the famed ships of the Manila-Acapulco Galleon Trade. The setting up of this trading route made it possible for the Spaniards to take all their goods from the Philippines and other colonies nearby to the Mexico – a place that was much closer to the Spanish homeland geographically speaking.

After the Spanish, American and Japanese occupations, the Pasig River would remain as a very important lifeline of the city and the country in terms of the economy both for trade and food source. This created a boom in construction of housing and manufacturing facilities along the entire stretch of the river creating an amount of congestion that was later to be regrettable despite the boom that post war era brought to the city of Manila.

Since the waterway of Pasig was connected with Laguna de Bay, fish were habitually migrating up and down the currents. In the 1930s however, it was noticed by some fishermen that the frequency of these migrations and the amount of fish caught in the area dropped significantly. The boom in industry and the economy prompted more people to live in the area and this was considered by many as the reason why the river eventually became dirty.

By the 1960s, people stopped going to the river for the washing of clothes. Going to the river to do the laundry is a very common thing to do in the provinces but given the state of the river, the idea seemed very impractical and infeasible to most people then. With growing populations and increased load exerted by chemicals from the many factories along the entire length of the river; the Pasig River itself – once a favourite swimming venue for families during the weekends – started giving out noxious smells.

Unfortunately, no one acted fast enough to rescue the obviously dying river. Urban migration – the movement of people from the provinces to the city - was at all time high and this choked the city and the river’s ability to cope with the amount of people that were literally flooding in every day. According to a study, in the 1980s, almost one out of every four people living in Metro Manila was a squatter. This meant that 25 percent of the people in the city had no access to electricity, clean water and most importantly, sewage services. Up to this day, there are many communities that line the estuaries, canals and other waterways that eventually drain to the Pasig River.

Metro Manila mayors along with the MMDA have tried to fix the problem by allowing for cheap housing and relocating some people to places like Cavite and Rizal – both heavily populated areas as well – to somehow remedy the problem of overpopulation and in the process give the river a fighting chance when it comes to its rehabilitation.

Unfortunately, in the early 90s, the Pasig River would be declared biologically dead and literally unable to support any form of animal or plant life. Well, there are things that could actually live on the very murky and polluted waters of the Pasig – really dangerous and disease-causing organisms that could bring nasty infections to anyone who may come in contact with whether through ingestion or just skin contact.

Attempts at revival

The efforts to start the massive cleanup needed for the Pasig River actually featured the help of the Danish government in tandem with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR). The project was launched in 1989 – before the river was deemed biologically dead.

The wife of former president Fidel Valdez Ramos was one of the first high-profile to truly bring the plight of the Pasig to the consciousness of many Filipinos. During the early part of her husband’s administration First Lady Ming Ramos spearheaded the “Piso Para Sa Pasig” movement that sought to have people chip in their donations in hope of raising funds for cleaning the river up and starting its rehabilitation. Many events were organized to raise money for this cause and this included a musical concert in which the First Lady herself took the stage and played the piano.

In 1999, President Joseph Ejercito Estrada signed into law the creation of the Pasig River Rehabilitation Commission. This government agency was going to be squarely responsible for synergizing the efforts of the government and the private sector as far as improving the current state of the Pasig was concerned.

As of the present, the river has been becoming more and more popular as a means of transport from one side of the metro to the other. The ferry system is once again running smoothly and is even being made into a tourism draw. There have been also lots of clearing operations meant to remove the unwanted illegal settlers who live on the Pasig River’s banks.

The river still remains to be dead in terms of its ability to sustain most types of animal and plant life, but it seems like things are going on the upside. The Pasig River Rehabilitation Commission is already showing their hard work through photos available on their official website. The commission is not only concerned with the river itself – they have also invested in making the banks of the river more pleasant. The commission is also doing dredging operations that are meant to clear out the sludge and sediment that has remained at the bottom of the river. The dredging operation is still said to be ongoing and is expected to last until the end of July.

What can you do to help?

If you’re one of the over ten million people who live in the area near the Pasig River then you may be curious on how you could help. A little effort does go a long way when it comes to problems as gargantuan as this one. You could read the citizen’s charter by the PRRC to know the thrust of the government and see where your effort and personal advocacies could be of use.

There are also private and corporate foundations that are also involved in this massive undertaking. ABS-CBN through their Bantay Kalikasan foundation is also working hard to get the message out that Pasig needs help. They have even launched a new sub group under their foundation called “Ilog Mo, Ipatrol Mo”. The group allows people who are on Multiply to see images, photos and write ups about the river and know about various initiatives such as fund raising concerts, talks and other symposia.

There are plenty of things that a person could do with the help of his friends. Going to the communities near the river and giving them a good idea on how to better take care of the river could also work. Sometimes, education really is the thing that starts the ball rolling towards a better outcome. Simple lessons of recycling, sanitation and the simple not throwing of garbage into the river could definitely produce dividends. The whole community from all classes and walks of life should unite in order to solve this problem. In pretty much the same way that the Pasig River runs through the heart of the City of Manila, we should also be aware that it is a common thread that runs through the identity of every single one of us living in this booming and proud city.

Photo: “Riding a Pasig River Ferry” by Roberto Verzo, c/o Flickr. Some Rights Reserved.

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