Pasig River cleanup marks runup to first year

MANILA, Philippines - The ABS-CBN Foundation said yesterday that it has received at least P500 million in donations from the local and national government and the private sector since launching the “Kapit Bisig Para sa Ilog Pasig” in June 2009.

Foundation managing director Gina Lopez said that as of March 31, they raised P500 million, of which P112 million was in cash.

Among the donors were the King of Bahrain, Sheikh Hamad bin Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa, who gave $500,000; President Arroyo, who gave P30 million; Ayala Group, P30 million; San Miguel Corp., P21 million; Aboitiz, P5 million; DMCI, P8 million; and Goldilocks, P5 million.

The chemical firm Cord donated 15 “bahangkas” or flood boats to the foundation, while Unilever Philippines gave one sack of rice to every family who willingly relocated from their shanty along the banks of Pasig River tributaries to a resettlement site in Laguna.

Manila Mayor described Lopez as a “wonder woman” for engineering the cleanup of the Estero de Paco, a three-kilometer tributary of the Pasig River.

“When Gina Lopez says something, we follow…It takes a Gina Lopez to give orders to everyone. Before, it is the men who issues the orders, but now, in the personification of Gina we follow,” he said.

Lopez thanked the Manila City government, which provided 500 personnel and 150 trucks to haul off the collected garbage. The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) also provided workers and equipment used to dredge the silt from the tributary.

The military sent 50 soldiers, who set up tents and stayed in the area for three months. The Philippine National Police (PNP) sent 300 policemen to assist in the cleanup.

Lopez said her family shelled out P20 million, which was spent for the construction of a school and provide livelihood training for the more than 4,000 informal settlers who transferred to the relocation site, called Bayanijuan, in Calauan, Laguna.

The school would accommodate an estimated 12,000 elementary and high school students.

At the 107-hectare Bayanijuan site, the National Housing Authority helped build homes, a water concessionaire put up a filtration plant, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) erected a day care center, a basketball court and a volleyball court. The SM Department Store put up a health center. The Bantay Bata Foundation provided a medical and dental facilities and an herb garden for the constituents.

Yesterday morning, the foundation also “anointed” 27 River Warriors, who will monitor the Paco waterway after undergoing training with the military and the use of the arnis. The PNP also pledged to put up an “eco-precinct” in the area.

On the second year of the seven-year cleanup plan, Lopez said their next project would be at Barangay Damayan Lagi in Quezon City.

One of the ambitious goals of the project is to make Pasig River a tourist spot. “If you have a clean river, the economy on both sides would go up. The key is to make that clean. It will be beautiful. It will be a tourist spot,” Lopez said.

The foundation has also set “A Run for Pasig River” race on Oct. 10, hoping to attract 100,000 participants to beat a record set by a Sydney, Australia marathon, which had 78,600 runners.