Why run for the Pasig River?

It will be a star-studded multi-city run in five cities on Oct. 6 when Kapamilya celebrities will be leading the advocacy run in Quezon City, Cebu, Davao, Bacolod and Los Angeles as part of ABS-CBN’s One Run, One Philippines that will benefit various environment projects.

Kim Atienza, Kim Chiu, Anne Curtis, Karylle and Erwann Heussaff will lead the Run for the Pasig River. Paulo Avelino and Jason Abalos will be in the Cebu leg, while Maja Salvador, Aaron Villaflor and Bryan Termulo will run in the Davao leg.

In Bacolod, Joem Bascon, Paul Jake Castillo and Bangs Garcia will take part in the run, while Jake Cuenca, TFC’s Michi Valeriano, Lee Robin Salazar and Gelo will join the Los Angeles leg.

One Run, One Philippines is one of the major highlights of ABS-CBN’s 60th anniversary two-day celebration dubbed as Mga Kwento ng Kasiyahan: The Grand Kapamilya Weekend on Oct. 5 and 6.

Among the five running events, most Filipinos would be familiar with the Run for the Pasig River, which is now on its fifth year.  

In 2009, the fun run partly funded the initial phase of Estero de Paco’s clean-up, while the historic 10.10.10 Run for the Pasig River funded the second phase and even broke the Guinness World Record for the “most number of participants in a running event” in 2010 with 116,086 runners.  

The 2011 and 2012 runs for the Pasig River are currently aiding the rehabilitation of the four esteros behind the Malacañang Palace. While the rehabilitation program is a long process, those who have seen the initial results are impressed, if not inspired.  

“When I was in grade three in 1976, my playmates and I used to bathe here because the water then was clear,” Erlinda Ilocso reminisced while staring at the water of Estero de San Miguel, one of the four esteros behind the Malacañang Palace that is being rehabilitated by ABS-CBN Foundation’s Kapit Bisig Para sa Ilog Pasig (KBPIP) in partnership with Pasig River Rehabilitation Commission (PRRC). 

“The water turned into green, and then gray, and then black. It started when shanties multiplied and the residents were dumping their waste in it,” she said. 

Since then, Ilocso believed that the former glory of the estero that once became their playground could not be relived anymore because it was already choked with trash. 

However, her mindset changed when the KBPIP started a river rehabilitation project in 2009 and staged the annual Run for the Pasig River to revive the historic Pasig River by rehabilitating Metro Manila’s waterways beginning on the esteros first.   

PRRC, under the helm of Gina Lopez starting 2010, also came on board and began refocusing their resources on the esteros instead of the Pasig River alone. The “marriage” of both PRRC and KBPIP is a true public-private partnership that is showing impressive results. 

“Who would have thought that a polluted estero can still be restored? With this, I am 100 percent sure that the Pasig River will bring back its beauty very soon,” Ilocso said. 

From tons of garbage that clogged the waterways prior to the rehabilitation program, Estero de Paco, Estero de San Miguel, Estero de San Juan, Estero de Uli-Uli, Estero de Aviles and Estero de Santibañez have transformed into cleaner creeks now. 

Today, the trees growing beside the esteros are the ones giving shade in its walkways instead of shanties. It is now filled with plants and flowers instead of solid waste. 

These efforts have resulted into drastic changes and improved the life of the people residing near the esteros. Because the water in the creeks flows more freely now, their houses were spared from floods. 

“When Typhoon Ondoy hit us in 2009 and the habagat in 2012, our house was flooded. But we did not experience it anymore when Typhoon Maring hit us recently. The estero did not even overflow,” Ilocso said. 

The rehabilitation efforts have also helped in bringing down the crime rate in the area. 

“Our barangay became more peaceful and orderly. We also now have visitors, most of them students, because they are amazed and interested about how the esteros have been transformed,” chairman Lino Lim of Barangay 460, Manila said. 

To continue the advocacy campaign towards cleaner rivers and esteros, ABS-CBN Foundation’s KBPIP will again raise funds via the fifth Run for the Pasig River. People can show their support for the worthwhile endeavor by showing up and running for a good cause. By doing so, we are telling the nation that it can be done.

(Registration for the fifth Run for the Pasig River is ongoing at SM Mall of Asia, SM North EDSA, SM North EDSA-The Annex, SM Megamall, SM Manila, SM Fairview, Chris Sports Glorietta, Chris Sports Festival Mall and Fitness & Athletics BGC. For the Cebu, Davao and Bacolod legs, sign-up at ABS-CBN Cebu; ABS-CBN Davao, Abreeza Mall or Holiday Gym and Spa; and ABS-CBN Bacolod. Online registration for the Los Angeles leg is open at http://racewire.com/register.php?id=3348. Log on to www.onerunonephilippines.com for other updates. Limited edition One Run, One Philippines official race gear distributed by ABS-CBN Licensing are also available in the booths.)