Pasig River gets a new lease in life

Did you know that water hyacinth naturally detoxifies sewage and sludge? Whenever I pass Guadalupe bridge and see water lilies floating in the Pasig River, I look at the plants as an eye sore. This, without knowing that they play an important role in the environment. There is a joke about the Pasig River that Simon of Noli Me Tangere will not take lightly. It says that had Simon jumped into the Pasig River these days he would not have resurfaced in the water alive. He would have been dead because of the dirt, smell and silt.

But there have been improvements in the Pasig River and its riverbanks. The parks around the banks of the river are now delightful to see. I see families promenading. The picket fences may not remind me of idyllic Savannah, Georgia which we see in the movies, but who knows, one day, the banks of the Pasig River can be just as beautiful. Years before, whenever you cross Pasig River, you had to cover your nose for fear of dying from the deadly stench. But Pasig River has come a long way. Thanks to the combined support of the government particularly the Pasig River Rehabilitation Commission (PRRC) and the Clean and Green Foundation.

The PRRC under executive director Bingle Gutierrez is directly in-charge of anything that has something to do with the rehabilitation of the Pasig River. It is tasked to clean the river, relocate the settlers (squatters inhabiting the riverbanks), educate communities to love and take care of the waterway, build parks along the riverbanks, as well as gather public support for the full rehabilitation of Pasig River.

According to Bingle, they have already relocated 5,000 families. The Pasig River is also an alternative route to decongest traffic in Metro Manila. Ferry boats are being constructed and stations are located in Escolta, Plaza Mexico, Hulo, Guadalupe, San Joaquin, Valenzuela, Muelle del Rio and Quezon Bridge. And the government’s most active partner in the effort to save Pasig River is the Clean and Green Foundation, which has been doing the Philippine Marathon for the Pasig River for the past six years now.

The Pasig River is rich with history. The river of old was once Manila’s muse. People lived along the banks. It was also a major player in the Galleon trade which lasted for over 222 years. And beyond the walls of Intramuros there existed a neighborhood called Extramuros meaning "outside of the walls." This included Binondo which was the commercial hub, Quiapo, known for the Black Nazarene, Sampaloc, San Miguel, where the rich lived and where Malacañang is now located, Sta. Cruz, home of the prosperous Chinese merchants, Sta. Mesa, Pandacan, home of Francisco Balagtas, Sta. Ana, where British, Germans and French converged, Paco known for its circular cemetery, Ermita and Malate, home of the upper class Filipino families.

Along Pasig River, life was easy and pleasant. You can fish, boat, swim and bathe. The river was clean, a swimmer’s haven. There was commerce – people ferrying goods, drinking water, vegetables for delivery to markets and warehouses or households living near the riverbanks. But in the early ’30s Pasig River began to see death. Factories and other commercial and industrial firms dumped their waste into the river. Squatters thrived and the riverbanks became the country’s most populated areas. The river started to die. And the government? It failed to cope with the demands for adequate sewage system and water treatment facilities. Water became darker and stinky. The riverbank became congested with squatters and traffic was limited to barges and tankers.

Resuscitating Pasig River is a gargantuan task. But the PRRC is living up to its Herculean task to make Pasig River teeming with life again.

Camp Pro-Gifted summer workshops

Promil Pre-School offers the perfect opportunity to enrich and nurture a child’s gift through Camp Pro-Gifted, a series of summer workshops for children aged three to seven. Camp Pro-Gifted offers five fun and exciting workshops that will help pre-schoolers discover and develop their gifts in arts and crafts, reading, acting, dancing and singing. Facilitators for Promil Camp Pro-Gifted are: Art Adventures for the interactive art workshop, CCP’s Ballet Philippines for dance, Talkshop – the Learning Center of Language and Culture for the reading workshop, Philippine Educational Theater Association for theater and Center for Pop Singing Philippines for pop singing workshop.

Promil Pre-School Camp Pro-Gifted runs from April 17 to May 19.