Pasig River Rehab Program Pursued

By CARLOS DAVE B. GARCIA and FREDERICK LOUIS R. CASTRO II

(Article Posted Online: September 25, 2012, 5:55pm)

MANILA, Philippines --- If esteros — and eventually, Pasig River — are clean, the country’s economy will improve.

This was what Pasig River Rehabilitation Commission (PRRC) chairperson Gina Lopez underscored as she led a familiarization tour of Estero de Paco and Estero de San Miguel in Manila for media yesterday morning, in an effort to show the agency’s aggressiveness to pursue the seven-year Pasig River rehabilitation program.

“The conjecture here is that when you clean the esteros, the economy will boom,” said Lopez.


Lopez compared the Pasig River to the human circulatory system, with its Manila sections as the “heart.” She pointed out that “we cannot save the ‘heart’ if its ‘veins’ — the tributaries or ‘esteros’ —  keep being polluted over and over again.”

Since assuming PRRC’s top post in 2010, Lopez’s thrust has been to “clean esteros first” before dealing with the main river, as she believed that the latter is both “a waste of time and resources.”

Using Estero de Paco as “template,” Lopez envisions every estuary to be developed as a commercial hub where residents can earn a living and improve their lives.

Estero de Paco’s rehabilitation started in 2009, with the relocation of thousands of families living along the waterway.

“It is very important that we take away the illegal dwellers. Whatever you do, if there is continuous throwing of garbage, and the river serves as their septic tank, nothing will happen,” Lopez explained in a recent interview with Manila Bulletin Research for the “Saving Pasig” special report series.

Following the relocation, linear parks in both esteros have been built. As of a late, a three-story hotel and a supermarket near the Estero de Paco are being constructed.

The river commission has also trained community volunteers dubbed “River Warriors” who clean and guard the esteros against polluters.

“In Estero de Paco, [there’s] no [more] flooding,” Lopez added, emphasizing that the estero was spared from the wrath of heavy rains and massive flooding brought by the “hanging habagat” (southwest monsoon) last month.

“It was because of the improved water flow due to the cleaning made during the rehabilitation,” said Lopez.

More notably, a survey sponsored by the Kapit Bisig para sa Ilog Pasig with 7,000 residents living within 200 meters from Estero de Paco revealed that 100 percent are getting more exercise, 97 percent are prouder of their community, 97 percent are satisfied with their lives, 89 percent feel less sick; 89 percent feel safer in the community; and 85 percent have lower medical expenses because of the cleaner and healthier environment. (With reports from Yfur Porsche P. Fernandez)