EDITORIAL - Another Pasig rehab

Fidel V. Ramos liked to reminisce about the days when he could swim in the Pasig River. Before motor vehicles became ubiquitous, the river was widely used for passenger and cargo transport. By the time Ramos assumed the presidency, however, the river had become a dumping ground for garbage, industrial effluvia, and even aborted fetuses and the corpses of murder victims. The stench from the river made people avoid it for mass transportation.

Almost every administration has pursued some form of campaign to revive the Pasig River. Success has been spotty, with progress depending on the person in charge of the program. Cleaning up the river gained headway during the Ramos administration when the effort was led by then first lady Amelita Ramos, and then in the early stages of the Duterte administration when the campaign was spearheaded by his first environment secretary, Gina Lopez. Duterte, however, also “disestablished” the Pasig River Rehabilitation Commission, created during the short-lived Estrada presidency.

In the current administration, President Marcos has revived the initiative, with the creation of an “Inter-Agency Council for the Pasig River Urban Development.” Constituted by virtue of Executive Order No. 35 that was issued last week, the council is tasked, among other things, to enforce easement rules along the Pasig riverbanks. This will include the relocation of informal settlers and elimination of illegal structures.

The now abolished Pasig River Rehabilitation Commission was tasked to restore the river to its “historically pristine condition conducive to transport, recreation and tourism.” The failure to carry out this mandate is evident in the shutdown of several private and government-operated ferry services, due to the proliferation of water lilies and the river pollution that turned off passengers.

The river cleanup, however, was intensified, with regular clearing of water lilies. In December 2019, the Pasig River Ferry Service was relaunched by the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority. But the COVID lockdowns interrupted the service.

In the latest rehabilitation effort, the government aims not only to continue cleaning up the river, but also to improve liveability along the riverfront communities. This is an ambitious goal that will require enormous resources and multisectoral cooperation. It will also require sustained commitment from the government. Merely laying the groundwork for the envisioned riverside urban development, which will be difficult to roll back in succeeding administrations, will be achievement enough.