Can we ever rehabilitate the Pasig River?

It’s good that President Marcos has recently paid attention to the problems of the Pasig River, whose rehabilitation has been a challenge to previous administrations. He vowed that the river would be transformed into one conducive to transport, recreation, and tourism, particularly by thoroughly cleaning its waters and housing the informal settlers on its banks. The task will be carried out by the Inter-Agency Council for the Pasig River Urban Development composed of at least 12 government agencies and headed by Secretary Jose Rizalino Acuzar of the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD).

Previous administrations have failed to improve the river’s putrid waters even to just a Class C level that would eliminate its bad odor and its being inhospitable to marine life. From my observation, such failure lies in the approach that did not consider the river as part of a bigger ecosystem which includes the abutting Laguna Lake and Manila Bay and, of course, the human inhabitants living along these waterways. The pollution in Pasig River is caused not only by the population along its banks, but also by those along the shores of Laguna Lake and Manila Bay.

The appointed interagency body must thus view the problem in a wider ecosystem context, as in how the exchange of water among Pasig River, Manila Bay, and Laguna Lake affects the quality and quantity of the river’s waters. During the wet season from June to November, the river drains the lake of its polluted waters that come from its 24 sub-watersheds and fish pens. During the dry months, the lower lake water level and the high tides of Manila Bay cause the polluted waters of the bay to backflow to the lake.

Thus, the compounded pollution of the river can be attributed to its unique features of being short at only 25 kilometers in length, and being bounded by two large and enclosed degraded bodies of water. Other rivers that have been rehabilitated successfully such as the Suzhou Creek in Shanghai and the Chao Phraya in Bangkok, and those whose cleanliness and beauty have been easy to maintain such as the Seine in Paris and the Thames in London are long rivers that range from 125 to over 700 km. Furthermore, their waters flow directly from the highlands to the open seas and are not affected by tidal and seasonal water movements.

Considering the dynamics of this unique water ecosystem would be a tall order, but it is necessary if the interagency council were to accomplish its task. The council should not just focus on cleaning the river, beautifying its banks with promenades, restaurants, and bike lanes, and resettling its informal settlers as part of the DHSUD’s “Pambansang Pabahay Para sa Pilipino” socialized housing program.

I notice, too, that the council does not include as members the Department of Science and Technology and the University of the Philippines, whose earth scientists can give it a deeper understanding of the fluid dynamics of their area of concern. And it has not even included the San Miguel Corp., which is already dredging the Pasig River.

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So aside from just cleaning the river and its 48 tributaries, the council also has to contend with the pollutive 24 sub-watersheds and fish pens of Laguna Lake. There is an urgent need to mobilize the sub-watershed water quality management boards and the Laguna Lake Development Authority to deal with the waste management issue in the lake. There is also a need to implement fully the Operational Plan for the Manila Bay Coastal Strategy of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources that involves 13 agencies, which were mandated by a Supreme Court mandamus issued in 2008 to rehabilitate Manila Bay’s waters and restore it to a level fit for swimming and other forms of contact recreation.

The rehabilitation of the Pasig River is a welcome move of the administration as it is a showcase of our history, culture, and socioeconomic development, and we wish Mr. Marcos and Secretary Acuzar success in this endeavor.

Meliton B. Juanico is a retired professor of geography at the College of Social Sciences and Philosophy at the University of the Philippines Diliman, and is a practicing licensed environmental planner.