River restoration

With the monsoon rains and flooding taking a break the other weekend, I went to my old haunts in Manila. Deterred by heavy traffic, my visits to the city where I was born and bred have become rare since The STAR moved to our new office building in Parañaque.

The visit did not disappoint. Divisoria is the only place where you can get a lot of stuff cheaper than in tax-free online platforms. My suki wholesalers in food packaging, baking supplies, ribbons and native Ilocos garlic are still there. The candle wholesaler was no longer there, but I found a new one inside one of the air-conditioned malls, where I bought Christmas décor.

 For non-Manila residents, it can be a long and traffic-choked drive to Divisoria, and you have to be ready for the crush of shoppers.

Another deterrent to visitors is the barangay parking racket in the district, with basic fee set at a usurious P100 and the collectors not giving out official receipts. I describe it as a barangay racket because in the many times that I went to the bargain district, the uniformed parking fee collectors always told me that the payment went to the barangay. Whenever I asked for an OR, they gave me a look that said, which planet are you from?

This time, we parked at the basement of the mall and were given an OR for a discounted fee of P40 for a four-hour stay. But that’s a mall. I don’t know if the barangay racket continues for curbside parking.  

There was an OR though for parking near the newest attraction in the city, the riverside esplanade in Intramuros. On a sunny late Saturday afternoon, the place was crowded with people enjoying the strong breeze and posing with the China-Philippines Friendship Bridge in the background.

Development of that area around Plaza Mexico was just starting when The STAR moved out of Manila’s Port Area, so it was a pleasant surprise to see what used to be a dirty, mugger magnet riverside transformed into a vibrant enclave connected to the Intramuros complex.

Those operating food kiosks along the esplanade said the crowd typically becomes larger in the evening, when the lights on the bridge and the ornately decorative street lamps lining the esplanade come on. 

The place has become a vibrant commercial and public recreation area, which should inspire similar developments along waterfront communities.

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In many countries, waterfronts are public land that are developed into parks. Private real estate near the waterfront are considered premium. The high property value provides an incentive for keeping the surroundings and body of water clean. 

In our country, rivers and creeks in urban centers have long been shunned for premium property development. This is because the water is often polluted with both solid waste and industrial and sewage effluent. Apart from municipal garbage, aborted fetuses and murder victims were often found floating in the Pasig River.

Along Ongpin Street in Manila, food stalls were set up some years ago by a creek near the main bridge. There are many similar areas in China and Hong Kong. The Chinese food sold in that Ongpin creekside was comparable in quality with delectable hawker fare in Hong Kong and Singapore, and reasonably priced. The small area was always crowded. But the stalls eventually folded up partly because of the stink from the polluted creek.

In China, rivers and creeks lined with dining areas in traditional and modern Chinese styles are popular tourist draws. The waterways are kept clean and traditional lanterns line the well-lit and well-maintained esplanades. Certain old neighborhoods are picked for preservation, restoration and development for tourism. Because the areas are popular destinations for visitors, there are many souvenir shops and stalls selling a wide range of local products. Bridges are also built or restored to be Instagram-worthy.

This is not unique to China. Thailand’s floating markets are iconic tourist draws. In Vietnam, all sorts of sea cruises are offered in Halong Bay, the setting for King Kong.

In many countries, river and sea cruises are common. They generate jobs and sustain downstream industries. Revenues from these cruises help keep the bodies of water clean.

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There’s a state-run ferry service in the Pasig River. I’ve tried that ferry and the ride from Intramuros to Guadalupe in Makati was surprisingly pleasant and free of stink, so I’m wondering when someone will offer leisure cruises in the Pasig. 

Perhaps those who can invest are waiting to get property owners along the Pasig on board first, to provide an appealing riverside scenery.

They may also be waiting for the completion of the master plan to transform 25.2 kilometers of the Pasig riverside into a recreation and transportation corridor that will promote tourism.

The lakeshore area along C-6 from Taguig to Taytay showed great promise for that kind of development when the circumferential road, also called the Laguna Lake Highway, became fully operational in 2018.

Sadly, the picturesque view of Laguna de Bay from C-6 disappeared as lake reclamation activities rapidly got underway. According to Sen. Panfilo Lacson, the reclamation continues despite what he said was the lack of environmental and reclamation permits from authorities. The Office of the Ombudsman should speed up action to halt this environmental disaster.

The Pasig River rehabilitation project is a bright spot in handling waterfront areas. It should become the norm rather than just an exception