River warriors clean up 2 waterways

MANILA, Philippines - Pasig River “warrior” Susan Sibaya has been living for the last five years near Estero de Paco, one of the 48 creeks in Metro Manila that feed into the Pasig River.

For most of her life, Sibaya said that she lived in what she dubbed as a dirty community. “The floods in this area are usually high,” she said. “Sometimes, it would be even taller than a person.”

This changed, however, when the rehabilitation of Estero de Paco started in 2009. From tons of garbage that block the waterways prior to the rehabilitation program, the three-kilometer creek is clean now.

Yesterday, ABS-CBN Foundation and Pasig River Rehabilitation Commission head Gina Lopez brought members of media and the blogging community to Estero de Paco and Estero de San Miguel, another creek that is being rehabilitated by the foundation’s Kapit Bisig Para sa Ilog Pasig (KBPIP) project.

Lopez said she invited the bloggers to the tour because she wanted to establish a close relationship with the online community. “We want to harness the social media to engage more people, especially the youth, in our advocacy,” she said.

The tour was held days before this year’s Run for the Pasig River on Sept. 30 at the Quezon City Memorial Circle.

Lopez said that the KBPIP is now focused on the waterways in Quezon City because it empties most of its trash to San Juan River.

“If we clean San Juan River, we’ll clean half of Pasig River. If we have to clean San Juan River, we have to clean Quezon City,” she said. “The Quezon City experience is really important because it sets the template for other cities. Unless local government units take on the cleaning of the esteros, it’s not going to happen.”

Unlike the previous runs, this year’s event titled “09.30.2012 Run, Ride & Roll for the Pasig River” will also be open to bikers and skaters. Lopez said they hope to raise P14 million for the rehabilitation of the creeks in Quezon City.

According to Lopez, half of the proceeds of the previous runs were used to fund the development of the resettlement site in Calauan, Laguna where most of the informal settlers who used to live along creeks were relocated. The remainder went to the operational expenses of the rehabilitation of the creeks.

Grace Sumalpong, KBPIP project director, said that beautifying the creeks is just half of the task.

“We also have to make sure that the communities will be able to sustain the rehabilitated areas,” she said.

To do this, the KBPIP has trained over 300 river warriors who are tasked to maintain the cleanliness of the rehabilitated areas. Sibaya, a river warrior herself, said everyone in their community has pledged their support to sustain the rehabilitated areas.