Pasig River gets helping hand

Students of Western Bicutan National High School in Taguig got their hands dirty yesterday and planted 100 acacia tree saplings in the vicinity of their campus – their share in helping rehabilitate the Pasig River.

The participation would hopefully grow into a commitment.

"The students would be the ones to take care of the trees until they are fully-grown," said David Nugent, vice president for corporate communications of the Fort Bonifacio Development Corp. (FBDC).

In fact, the students received certificates signed by Clean and Green Foundation chairman Amelita Ramos that would "forge their commitment" as the guardians and care-givers of the acacia trees.

The tree-planting activity, dubbed "Puno ng Pag-asa para sa Pasig," is one of the events that the FBDC and its partners, the Clean and Green Foundation and the Pasig River Heritage Foundation, organized to raise the level of people’s awareness of their environment.

A 42-kilometer Pasig River Heritage Marathon from Fort Bonifacio across five cities is scheduled this afternoon, to be joined by an estimated 300 participants from all over the country.

Nugent explained that through these events, organizers are hoping they would be able to get people’s attention and create a sense of community.

"We are trying to raise awareness on key issues, not just for the Pasig River but for the entire state of Metro Manila’s environment – to show people what it’s like to walk around your community and actually enjoy it," he said.

Nugent said organizers eventually want to turn an environmentally sustainable project like tree-planting into an event with more Metro Manila schools participating.

"Young people have to be aware that they also have a stake in their environment," he said.

And the stakeholders are the ones responsible for keeping the environment alive.

"We have to learn how to care. Manila is one of the world’s super cities in terms of size and clout but it doesn’t offer people a healthy environment," Nugent said.

"More than anything, people – young and old – should realize that the river is more than just a body of water, which many of us are guilty of having turned into a big garbage bin."

Nugent pointed out that of prosperous cities like Bangkok in Thailand have healthy rivers.

"The river is the heart of the city. And if it is dead, it doesn’t bode well for the people and the environment," Nugent said. "Even in a developing economy context, people are able to keep their rivers alive."

Nugent said a high level of awareness would automatically translate into action.

He is happy to note that a number of big companies are now supporting the organizers’ efforts to rehabilitate the Pasig River.

"Once they are aware, people would do something, take action in whatever way, for their environment and everything else would follow," Nugent said.