Linear park opens along Pasig River tributary

MANILA, Philippines - The newly constructed Pasong Tamo Linear Park opened to the public last Thursday, the first of several park development and bank improvements to be made over the next years in three tributaries of the Pasig River in Quezon City.

The Pasig River Rehabilitation Commission (PRRC), in partnership with the local government of Quezon City, inaugurated on Jan. 22 the 380-meter linear park built along the 2.4-kilometer Pasong Tamo Creek.

The paved linear park is adorned with landscaped indigenous flowers and plants and fitted with park benches. At night, the strip garden is lit by solar-powered lampposts.

Jericho Von Miranda, communications head of the PRRC said the next two phases of development of the Pasong Tamo Creek Linear Park would be carried out in the next few years.

“This will lead other projects in Pasig River tributaries here in Quezon City,” he said.

Other than the Pasong Tamo Creek, two other tributaries of the Pasig River in Quezon City would be cleaned and developed.

Similar linear parks, he said, would be constructed along Culiat and San Francisco Rivers.

Dredging and desilting activities are now underway in the San Francisco River near Araneta Avenue.

The PRRC is an attached agency of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) mandated to transform Pasig River and its environs into clean and livable communities.

The PRRC develops waterways in three stages: dredging and desilting to gradually restoring the water quality in the Pasig River and its tributaries into class-C level, the effluent standard for maintaining aquatic life and recreational use such as boating.

The agency next conducts bank improvement to strengthen creek and river banks and prevent erosion and flooding and, lastly, linear park development to turn these tributaries into leisure areas.

“But now we are focusing not only on the environs of the Pasig River but on its tributaries as well,” said Miranda.

PRRC partnered in 2009 with Kapit Bisig Para sa Ilog Pasig, the river rehabilitation project of ABS-CBN Foundation to take on the rehabilitation of several Pasig River tributaries.

Under this partnership, the rehabilitation of several metro waterways has been undertaken. These include the Estero de Paco, Estero de San Miguel, Estero de Aviles, Estero de Uli-Uli, Estero de Quiapo and Estero de San Sebastian.

The PRRC has a budget of P48.56 million for the development of the Pasong Tamo Creek Linear Park. Out of this allocation, only P9.53 million has been used.

During the inauguration, Quezon City Mayor Herbert Bautista expressed continuous support for the development of Pasig River tributaries in the city.