EDITORIAL - River summit

The miserable state of Cebu’s rivers will be the main focus when the next leg of the International River Summit takes place next month in Mandaue City, the fourth Philippine city to host such kind of gathering.

Local and international stakeholders will gather for at least three days to try to look for ways to restore some of our rivers, especially those in Metro Cebu, that are now in a dying state due to human abuse. 

The event is very timely since a program is now being pushed to rehabilitate the Butuanon River. Part of the rehab effort of the 20-kilometer river, which runs through the cities of Cebu and Mandaue, will be the establishment of a viewing deck as a venue for research in the recovery program.

It’s really sad that some of our local rivers have become victims of heavy pollution spawned by years of human cruelty. These bodies of water were once full of life and were sources of food for some animals aside from being the habitat of aquatic life.

But now they are slowly dying as they have turned into sites for garbage and other waste and toxic materials. What’s even worse is that local government units have paid little attention to the need to rehabilitate these rivers.

Is there still a chance to bring these rivers back to their original state? We better throw this question to local officials and to the people living near these bodies of water who have long been abusing these watercourses.

Any recovery effort needs a gargantuan amount of political will from the local government. And this campaign includes a religious implementation of laws to discipline those who continue to desecrate our rivers.

We do hope that the International River Summit will help stakeholders find ways that would help restore the beauty of our rivers. We also hope that the event will serve as a reminder to all that there is really a need to protect and maintain our river system.