What will it take to save the Pasig?

THE Pasig river alive by the year 2008. This is the vision of the

Pasig River Rehabilita-tion Program (PPRP) and its program

partner, the Piso Para sa Pasig (PPP).

Launched in 1993 by former President Fidel Ramos, with

assistance from the government of Denmark, PPRP was poised

as a 10-to-15 year multi-sector effort of over a hundred

government agencies, local government units and private

organizations. Its goal is to revive the polluted river and make it

once again "habitable to aquatic life, suitable for secondary

contact sports like boating, and sufficient for industrial use after

treatment."

The program's goal is anchored on four main targets:

l to eliminate the riverwater's offensive odor during the dry

season;

l reduce the biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) load of the

river from the 1990-91 levels of 330 metric tons per day to 200

metric tons per day;

l to reduce the amount of solid waste dumped into the rivers

and creeks, and regularly remove all floating solid waste from

the navigable parts of the Pasig and its tributaries; and

l to increase and control the flow of water in the Pasig during

the dry season.

These are huge tasks requiring at least 21 major rehabilitation

programs.

In a 1997 report, former DENR secretary Victor Ramos said the

Pasig river has become cleaner. He cited a study done that year

which showed that the river's water quality had improved

significantly.

Based on the analysis and modeling tests of Filipino and Danish

experts who conducted the study, the river's total BOD load had

dropped to 230 metric tons per day starting 1995, a decrease of

nearly 100 metric tons per day from the 1990-91 level.

This improvement in water quality occurred along the entire

main stretch of the Pasig, from Bambang bridge to the outlet in

Manila. Only the BOD loads from the San Juan river, Mari-kina

river and Laguna Lake remain on the same level.

Ramos attributed the drop in the BOD level to the reduction of

pollution from solid waste as well as commercial and industrial

waste. But he said liquid waste remained a problem because of

the growth in Metro Manila's population, particularly those

living near or along the banks of the river. This is compounded

by an inadequate sewage disposal system.

More than 116,000 cubic meters of garbage had also been

hauled from the Pasig and its tributaries.

At present, the river is once again suitable for navigation, with

50 to 80 vessels plying the river daily. The vessels include

air-conditioned passenger ferry services.

The Piso Para sa Pasig, a private organ- ization under the

auspices of the Clean and Green Foundation, Inc. of former first

lady Amelita Ramos, has generated more than P50 million in

donations for saving the river. It also helped raised public

awareness on the effort. A survey conducted in 1997 showed

that nine out of ten individuals in Metro Manila were aware of

the PPP and are willing to support its rehabilitation efforts.

For Mrs. Ramos, this is a vital step in achieving the program's

goal. As she put it aptly, it would take people to really

rehabilitate the Pasig river.