Where fishermen tossed their rods, where women laundered cloths and washed dishes, where children jumped off a bridge—that was Pasig River.
Pasig River was a major source of food and water. It was a center for livelihood which made its banks a favorite site for residences of the rich. In fact, even the government elevated the place to a high importance as it constructed the Office of the President, the Malacanan Palace, along its shorelines.
Pasig River was once a sight. It was a pleasant spot for photography. A lot of vintage postcards had the river on their covers. Even in black and white, the beauty and sophistication of the 25-kilometer body of water were evident.
Pasig River was that river.
History accounts tell us that the waterway started deteriorating after World War II in 1945. The authorities then focused on repairing the damages brought about by the war. Many infrastructures were built to boost the economy of the country. The river suffered neglect.
Worse was when our countrymen from the rural areas decided to find a living in the city. Because they had no place to stay and because the Pasig River was known to be the city’s lifeline, people crowded around and along the river. They enjoyed the livelihood the river offered; the convenience of having their garbage flow with the water and away from them. The biggest blow came when factories made the country’s most important waterway an artificial sewage system.
From then on, the river became sick. By the 1930s, fish migration from one of the river’s tributaries, the Laguna de Bay, diminished. Ferry transport declined and using the water for laundering became impossible in the 1960s. 10 years later, the river produced an unbearable smell; another 10 years, the government forcibly prohibited fishing in the river. Sadly in 1990, the river was declared to be biologically dead, i.e., it is no longer capable of sustaining life.
All is not lost, however. The good thing is the government, together with the help of private institutions, is making a strenuous effort to revive the Pasig River.
Some specialists say that it will take decades before the river may be revived. It is possible to significantly shorten that period, however, if we all make an effort for the river that once served more than its purpose of simply being a waterway.
Let’s not allow the Pasig River to be the river that “was” connecting Laguna de Bay and Manila Bay; the river that “was” bisecting Manila into north and south. Let’s do something before books and magazines completely address Pasig River in the past tense; before we can read in History books that “Pasig once had a river.”
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