May 31, 2023 • 27 mins
In this episode, Carmina and Patch revisit the Pasig River’s consequential role in Manila's development, its former glory and the reasons for its eventual demise. But all is not lost – they talk about past and current revitalization efforts by government, private, and civic organizations that made great strides in resuscitating the river. However, a new threat is imminent that if unchecked, will unwind decades of progress. Listen in as Carmina and Patch discuss ways to ensure Pasig River's continued road to recovery.
To learn more: Time and Time Again: A Short History of the Pasig River Rehabilitation Project, Bantay Kalikasan: Ilog Pasig - Noon at Ngayon, Decoding the La Madre Statues, Fast Facts: The Pasig of Lore, #IlogPasiglahin, Renacimiento Manila: everything to know about the organisation dedicated to reviving Old Manila, #IlogPasiglahin: A PSA Campaign to Address the Construction of the Pasig River Expressway (PAREX), Why save the Pasig River?, THE RIVER WARRIORS OF PASIG, Revitalization of the Pasig River Through The Years: Bringing a Dying Ecosystem Back to Life, and 10 Amazing Things We No Longer See In Pasig River.
Watch Tindig Arki: Student Summit, a one-day seminar held on May 9, 2023 where speakers from invited organizations gave a talk about environmental justice and climate action to provide a venue where architecture students develop critical thinking in serving the Filipino community using their knowledge of the architectural practice.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Carmina (00:06):
Welcome to FilTrip, a podcast where we explore
everything fun, weird, and inbetween about the Philippines.
And now a quick shout out.
Check out Manila Candle. ManilaCandle features Filipino
inspired scents like Tagaytay,Palawan, Ube Halaya and Buco
(00:29):
and Mango. They also have funones like Ay Nako and Bahala Ka
Sa Buhay Mo.
Patch (00:35):
Enjoy their car fresheners, wax melts and
merchandise to visitmanilacandle.com and take a
trip to the Philippines throughtheir scents.
Carmina (00:46):
Back to our show.
Patch (00:48):
Today's trip is a side trip when we take a short
detour to a specific place anddiscuss it in a bit more depth.
And today we're taking a tripto Pasig River.
Carmina (01:00):
Rivers play such an important role in civilization
and world history. So when youthink of big rivers, you think
of the great civilizations thatdeveloped all around it. So for
example, the Nile River inEgypt, the river Thames in
London, and the river Seine inParis. Everywhere there's a
(01:21):
huge river. It's inevitablethat civilization just develops
around it. And in the case ofthe Philippines, the Pasig
river was the cradle ofPhilippines civilization and
was a huge contributor to thedevelopment of Manila.
Patch (01:37):
The river was a major source of water and livelihood
for various communities thatsettled early on in our
history.
Carmina (01:46):
It was as also a major means by which people navigated
the city. It was a bigtransportation hub. I even saw
illustrations where the coconutfarmers would use the river to
transport their coconuts. Andif you think about it, coconuts
are really, really heavy. Youknow what they did?
Patch (02:06):
I kind of read about it, but yes, go ahead.
Carmina (02:08):
They built rafts made of the actual coconuts they
were selling that they wouldjust kind of prod through the
river until it got to the placewhere it needed to go. That
might have been a sight to see. Huh? What would they ride
after they sold all theircoconuts? ? How would
they come back where they camefrom? I'm sure there was a way,
(02:30):
but the rich and the elitebuilt summer houses along the
banks of the river. And infact, even Malacanang the
presidential palace was bornthere. So Patch, what do you
remember about the Pasig River?
Patch (02:45):
I don't remember much of it. It was very polluted. It
was very dirty, murky, andeverything smelled bad. So in
general, our family stayed away from the Pasi River.
Carmina (02:58):
Same here. I really don't think that it had any
kind of appeal to us when wewere growing up because it was
declared biologically dead by1990. You didn't go there
unless you had a really, reallygood reason to be there.
Patch (03:14):
Thankfully, there's documentation on how elegant
that area was. There's a quotethat I saw that describes Pasig
River was where the newest andmost elegant houses were built
upon the banks of the river.
Simple in exterior. Theycontained inventions of luxury.
It lined with vases from China,Japan, and it was really
(03:37):
dazzling to the eyes Carmina. Ifound an article that wrote
about how Jose Rizalromanticized the Pasig river.
So he wrote about it in ElFilibustorismo. There's a cave
in Guadalupe named DonaGeronima and legend has it that
basically she had a boyfriendwho was sent to Manila to study
(04:00):
when she was younger and shewas waiting for him.
Carmina (04:04):
Mm -hmm .
Love story.
Patch (04:06):
Before leaving. He promised to marry her, but he
didn't return. Oh , typical.
Right?
Carmina (04:14):
Mm -hmm .
.
Patch (04:15):
When Dona Geronima went to search for him, she
discovered that he was alreadyan archbishop.
Carmina (04:22):
Ah . That was an unexpected twist.
Patch (04:25):
Exactly. And he gave her a cave near Guadalupe as, a
shelter for her to stay in. Andso that's where she stayed. And
it was believed that to thisday you would see her washing
her plates by the river,throwing them out into the
river and they would returnclean and gleaming .
(04:45):
Well, for sure. Not today,.
Carmina (04:48):
I actually also read a lot about the glory of the
Puente de España or the Bridgeof Spain, and it was a super
structure that connectedBinondo and Ermita. There were
a lot of historical accounts ofhow beautiful it was. That
bridge was the oldest in thecountry before it was damaged
(05:08):
by a flood in 1914. That'swhere you saw all of those
triple branched street lamps.
Those were made by a company inParis called Lacarrière., which
was renowned for theirlanterns, their lamps, their
candelabras and chandeliercreations that were seen in a
lot of historical sites and theworld back then. They brought
(05:30):
it all the way to Manila tolight and decorate the bridge.
It was damaged by a flood in1914, and it was replaced by
the Jones Bridge, which beganconstruction in 1916 and was
finished in 1921 . It was donein a neoclassical style and it
(05:51):
rivaled bridges in the US andEurope just as the Bridge of
Spain did during its time.
Patch (05:57):
Thankfully, Jones Bridge was transformed again quite
recently to its, well, maybenot to its former glory, but at
the very least it was restored.
Carmina (06:08):
Mm-hmm.,
Patch (06:09):
Have you seen pictures of it lately?
Carmina (06:11):
I have. And there were many elaborate statues in the
original that were brought backto that restoration project.
And there's a particular oneactually for the La Madre
Filipina or in English, thePhilippine Motherland. So there
were originally four of them,but only three of them
(06:32):
survived. They were meant torepresent democracy, justice,
gratitude, and progress. We'lllink an article on our show
notes to describe and show whateach one looks like because
they all look different andhave different significance
anyway Patch. Do you know whyit's called Jones Bridge ? Did
you ever wonder.
Patch (06:53):
Now I am . Why?
Why is it called Jones Bridge?
?
Carmina (06:57):
It's named after a former Virginia representative
William Atkinson Jones. He wasthe principal author of Jones
Law, which is also known as thePhilippine Autonomy Act of
1916, which is the bill thatpromised our future
independence. He was thelongest continuously serving
(07:18):
democratic House member of histime. And some say that he
believed the US was better offgranting the Philippines its
independence because the costof defending and maintaining it
exceeded the benefits to the us. But he was actually more
known in the US and in thePhilippines as someone who
(07:39):
defended the Filipinos againstmisrepresentation. And he
really considered it a labor oflove to advocate for Philippine
independence. I'm going toquote from a speech that he
made on May 1st, 1916,"Fervently believing with that
great apostle of human liberty,Thomas Jefferson , that the
(08:01):
people of every country are theonly safe guardians of their
own rights. My prayer is thatthe day is not far distant when
we shall see a rise in the FarEast, a free and independent
Christian nation to be knownthroughout the world as the
Republic of the PhilippineIslands." He was so well loved
(08:22):
in the Philippines because ofthis, and it wasn't just the
bridge that was apparentlynamed after him. There is some
municipality named Jones andIsabella and the municipality
of Banton in Roblon, was alsonamed Jones in 1918 before it
went back to its old name in1959. And so those Las Madres
(08:43):
Filipinas statues that I wastalking about earlier was a
tribute also to Jones and thevalues that were embedded into
the Jones Law. Patch, you weretalking earlier about how we,
we no longer see thosemagnificent houses along the
banks of the river, butthankfully there are a few
historical landmarks thatremain. So we already mentioned
(09:05):
the Malacanang palace or thepresidential palace. There's
also the Immaculate ConceptionCathedral, which is one of the
oldest in the Philippines andBahay Kuwago, which was used by
Andres Bonifacio in some of therevolutionary efforts. So with
all its past glory Patch andall of the beauty that
(09:26):
apparently was around it, whatthe heck happened to it?
Patch (09:31):
Industrialization and quote unquote , progress
happened, right?
Carmina (09:36):
Mm-hmm.
World War II destroyed a huge
part of the river banks duringthe Battle of Manila, and it
really never recovered from thewar.
Patch (09:44):
Remnants of the war and shattered buildings were
deposited into the basin.
Carmina (09:50):
And land-based transportation also became the
priority, which lessened thereliance on the river for
transportation. And so peoplekind of neglected it. Land
became the more important wayby which people earned a
living, and the river from thatperspective became useless. So
(10:11):
apart from theindustrialization byproducts,
people contributed by throwingtrash in the river as well, all
of which unfortunately affectedthe natural ecosystem of the
river. And oxygen levels becamevery low to sustain life.
Patch (10:29):
It's interesting that even during the time of the
Spanish, they already noticedthat the waters were starting
to not be as pristine. By the1930s, they continued to notice
the decline of Pasig river whenfish migration from Laguna Lake
decreased. And by the 1950speople stopped bathing and
(10:51):
washing in the river. Itstarted to smell and turn black
during the 60's. And by the70's, that's when the river
fell below Class C levels, asthey call it , of pollution.
And even below that, by 1975,by the 1980s, river tourism
(11:13):
diminished and all types offishing was essentially brought
to an end.
Carmina (11:18):
I found a study in 2012 on the chemical properties
of the water. 100 signifiesperfectly pristine. Manila Bay,
which is on one side of thePasig River, scored 16, and in
the center of the Pasig Riverit scored a six. And that was
the last study I found on theinternet on the chemical
(11:40):
properties. I even found itreally interesting that I found
an electronic freedom ofinformation request from a grad
student requesting for theup-to-date data of the chemical
properties and water quality ofthe Pasig River to use for his
or her master's thesis. And itdoesn't seem like there is
(12:01):
anything after 2012. At leastnot that I could find.
Patch (12:05):
So basically they just gave up.
Carmina (12:08):
I know . That's so sad, right? But not everybody
gave up. Yes. There have beenmany rehabilitation efforts
over the years spanningdifferent administrations since
1989 when President Cory Aquinostarted the Pasig River
Rehabilitation Program and thetimeline was to bring the
Pacific River back to being ahealthy waterway within 15
(12:31):
years.
Patch (12:31):
That's right, Carmina .
And this was in collaborationwith the Denmark's Foreign
Development Assistance Program.
It was intended to restore theecological health of the Pasig
River through proper wastedisposal, public awareness, and
cleaning the river itself.
Carmina (12:49):
After that, there were several other projects such as
when President Joseph Estradaestablished the Pasig River
Rehabilitation Commission in1999. And even foundations like
the ABS CBN Foundation'sEnvironmental Arm Bantay
Kalikasan entered into amemorandum of agreement with
(13:09):
the Department of Environmentand Natural Resources in 2008
to join in the efforts. And itincludes a fun run for Pasig
River every month of October,which is attended by so many
supporters who begin activitystarting at four in the
morning. And we're going tolink a video in our show notes
to show some of the projectsand the changes over the years.
(13:32):
All of these efforts, even ifwe didn't stick with a 15 year
timeline .
Patch (13:37):
Mm-hmm..
Carmina (13:38):
Seem to be working though because in 2018, the
Pasig River won over theYangtze River in China, when it
was recognized in the AsiaRiver Prize Awards. Plus fi sh
a re starting to populate theriver again. And in 2019 there
was this viral video, you know,showing a man catching a really
(14:00):
big fish. Although there havebeen warnings to not eat fish
from the river just yet.
Patch (14:07):
. I think also
that was a really big deal
because the last time the localsaw fish or any kind of
creature in the waterswas in the 70's.
Carmina (14:19):
So a lot of optimistic developments. In 2019 though,
president Duterte ended thePasig Rehabilitation Commission
and handed over the functionsto the Manila Bay Task Force
and DENR. He justified this bydeclaring the river, quote
unquote already clean. But asalways, there's controversy
(14:42):
because a few months prior,Duterte fired the former head
of the commission because ofalleged corruption scandals.
Plus he also apparently saidjust a few months before that
the river was uncleanable. AndI can't help wonder if there
are other nefarious thingsunderfoot because now there's a
(15:03):
new threat that all of us needto be worried about.
Patch (15:06):
Are you referring to the Pasig River Expressway?
Carmina (15:10):
Yes. PAREX?
Patch (15:11):
Mm-hmm.
Carmina (15:13):
The plan is to build a six lane elevated expressway
and it's being hyped as a wayto reduce traffic by providing
an east-west corridor in Pasigcity. The project is
spearheaded by the San MiguelCorporation.
Patch (15:29):
They are saying that this represents a solution
because building the newconnection between East and
West Manila will necessitatecleaning up the river. First,
they're going to spend all thismoney to clean up the river and
dredging the river beds,
Carmina (15:45):
Ninety-fve billion peso Patch, which is roughly
1.7 billion US dollars . Allsounds good and nice, but
thankfully there are watchfuleyes. And one of our high
school classmates, Sally, hiSally!
Patch (16:01):
Hi Sally!
Carmina (16:03):
Who is a member of the United Architects of the
Philippines Diliman Chapter isone of many architects who are
saying no to PAREX. They arejust one of many concerned
citizens who worry that PAREXwill further threaten the Pasig
River and will reverse manydecades of progress. So the
(16:24):
United Architects of thePhilippines Diliman Chapter,
wrote to nine senators, urgingthem to oppose the PAREX. And
they wrote a statement thatoutline a lot of important
facts, refuting the claimsabout the PAREX on the claim
that PAREX will solve thetraffic congestion. What do
(16:48):
they say?
Patch (16:48):
The assertion that more urban expressways will solve
traffic congestion is a falseand misleading statement.
They're saying because buildingnew roads does not ease traffic
congestion. And they also citedthe studies that show due to
induced demand, new expressways will actually increase
(17:10):
traffic congestion rather thanease it.
Carmina (17:13):
And not to mention that the environmental impact
assessment that was done saidthat there are a lot of risks
such as infrastructurecollapse, hazards, accidents,
spills to the river, greenhousegas emissions from increased
number of vehicles leading torespiratory diseases. And this
(17:35):
was never addressed in theproposal of PAREX or addressed
with a very light touch withoutany detailed risk mitigation
plans on how to address them.
Parex is also justifying theproject by saying that the
Pasig River is not anenvironmentally critical area.
(17:55):
So the UAP is calling forcloser scrutiny and to protect
the Pasig River by declaring itas an environmentally critical
area. They're also advocatingfor the river to be declared as
a national heritage site sothat we can protect it and
continue its restoration. Andas for that 95 billion peso
(18:15):
funding, they suggest that itbe diverted to public transport
system improvements instead.
Patch (18:22):
As far as tourism is concerned, in particular Pasig
River, we mentioned some of theheritage areas, the Jones
Bridge, Malacanang, etc. Canyou imagine these views being
blocked by a highway?
Carmina (18:37):
Yeah, I'll pay money for that. And joking
aside, why would you even wantto go where your sight line is
obstructed by a concretemonster like an expressway
?
Patch (18:51):
Exactly. We know we should protect our heritage's
visual integrity is what theycall it.
Carmina (18:58):
And then the other thing that I didn't really
think about patch until I readthe paper is what's called the
daylighting of the river. So bybuilding this expressway on top
of the river, it's going toobstruct sunlight. And as we
know, sunlight is veryimportant for all forms of
life.
Patch (19:17):
San Miguel corporation is claiming that PAREX will
only be built on the banks ofthe river . You know, they're
saying it's not going tocompletely cover the river, but
what environmentalists aresaying is it doesn't really
matter. Any portion of theriver being covered will
contribute to pollution and allthose other reasons that you
(19:39):
have mentioned earlier.
Carmina (19:41):
And you know, for people like us who have not
such great memories of theriver from our childhood, I
really urge everybody to go toYouTube, get their hands on
every video that they can findabout the Pasig River as it is
today. And you'll see all ofthose conservation efforts
really made a huge difference.
(20:01):
I was actually floored by thedifference
Patch (20:05):
Night and day.
Carmina (20:06):
And so we shouldn't stop the momentum. Instead we
should be doubling down.
Patch (20:12):
Let's also talk about what they are proposing
instead. They did outline someexamples of what was done in
other cities and what could bedone in our city as well. One
of which is the Singapore Riverexample. In the 1970s, the
Singapore River was pretty muchin the same state as Pasig
(20:32):
River. And it took Lee Kuan Yewten years and 170 million
dollars to clean up theSingapore River. And now if you
look at it, it is one of themost pristine rivers that has a
working urban water reservoir.
Carmina (20:51):
The other example that they provided is the
Cheonggyecheon river in theSeol metropolitan area. The
government actually dismantleda ten lane roadway and four
lane elevated highway. Andinstead they built a 10.9
kilometer long open space thatattracted 64,000 visitors
(21:13):
daily. And throughout theprocess, the government made
sure that the public wasinvolved. They held 4,200
meetings with residents andthey created a Wall of Hope
program to encourageinvolvement. It cost 345.2
million US dollars , but theproject resulted in very
(21:34):
impressive statistics. Therewas a 76% increase in
pedestrian activity, 45%decrease in vehicle volume,
4.5% reduction in urban heatisland effect, 10.3% decrease
in air pollution, 15.1%increase in bus ridership and
(21:58):
3.3 increase in subwayridership. And they're saying
that PAREX is almost twice thelength of Cheonggyecheon. So we
can just imagine the oppositestatistics that will happen. So
what can people do Patch?
Patch (22:14):
We are encouraging everyone to write the mayors,
their senators, theircongressman, anyone who is in
power to do anything aboutthis.
Carmina (22:24):
And we also encourage all of our listeners, anywhere
you're located to look into theIlog Pasiglahin movement by
Greenpeace Philippines. It'scomposed of heritage groups,
youth groups, biking advocates,and small businesses who are
united in opposing the PAREX intheir website. You'll find ways
you can contribute andparticipate. One of the
(22:45):
alternatives that's reallyheavily supported is what's
called the Pares, which standsfor the Pasig River Esplanade.
They have some beautifuldepictions of what it could be.
The other organization thatpeople should check out is that
Renacimiento Manila, which isanother group composed entirely
of volunteers who are artists,creators, and history buffs who
(23:09):
are working to conserve andeducate about old Manila.
Renacimiento Manila meansrebirth in Manila, in English.
And you know, Patch, as I waslooking into all of these
efforts, I was so encouragedbecause so many young people
are very active in IlogPasiglahin as part of the Ilog
Pasiglahin movement. Therereally have been many, many
(23:31):
events people have put up toincrease awareness. They have
fun runs, they have cleanupdays and I even saw a video of
a dragon boat race from lastyear. And Patch, we really
can't not mention another groupthat are unsung heroes and are
(23:53):
most often forgotten when wetalk about Pasig river
conservation efforts. We needto mention the river warriors
of Pasig.
Patch (24:02):
Oh yes, of course. I've seen the videos of them
actually diving into thewaters. They're actually doing
the actual work of cleaning thePasig River.
Carmina (24:14):
They're a small group of community volunteers who
have made it their life missionand some of them work and seven
hour shifts, like you said, tomanually pick up garbage and
God knows what else.
Patch (24:26):
Mm-hmm..
Carmina (24:27):
Many of them have been added for years and even
decades. So we really thankyou. So Patch, I want to end by
sharing one legend about howthe Pasig River got its name.
Patch (24:41):
Okay.
Carmina (24:42):
You might have heard of many origin stories. One of
them says that it's acombination of the word Pas
meaning fast flow of water, andIg, which is the Magindanawan,
one word for water, hencePasig.
Patch (24:56):
That word Ig is present in other words, that uh ,
pertain to water, like tubig origib.
Carmina (25:03):
Right. I read that too. There's another one that
says that Pasig is an oldSanskrit word that means a
river flowing from one body ofwater to another. And that
perfectly describes Pasig Riverbecause it flows from Laguna de
Bay , it's in the middle Pasigriver, and then onto Manila
Bay, which the seal of Pasigdepicts. There's a woman at the
(25:27):
center of the logo and on eachside of her are waves meant to
represent bodies of water. Onone side is Laguna De Bay, and
then on the other side isManila Bay . But this is my
favorite and it has somethingto do with your name.
Patch (25:41):
I knew it .
Carmina (25:43):
So let me tell the story. Once there were two star
crossed lovers named Vergilioand Pas who decided to elope by
boat via the river, the boatcapsized and the man fell
calling his lover's name. Hesaid, Paz sigeme over and over
(26:07):
until he drowned . Soin English, Paz sigime means
pass help me. And so I waswondering what must have Paz
in that time been doingfor Vergilio to keep crying out
over and over. So I guess inhis last moment, the sentence
(26:29):
was cut off in the middle as hesank and all he managed to get
out was Pasig glug glug. And Iguess that was the end of him.
Patch (26:41):
. Well, if it
was this Paz, me in particular,
I would be waving goodbye . On that note.
Carmina (26:50):
So that's our episode.
We hope you join us on our nexttrip. O siya, siya!
Patch (26:58):
Ingat! Thanks for listening to Filtrip with
Carmina and Patch SupportFiltrip through Patreon or
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Subscribe at Apple Podcasts,Spotify, or wherever all
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Carmina (27:16):
Thanks to FilTrip sponsor, Solepack, a functional
shoe accessory bag. Visitthesolepack .com for more
details.
Patch (27:25):
Email us at thefiltrip@gmail.com.
Welcome to FilTrip, a podcast where we explore
everything fun, weird, and inbetween about the Philippines.
And now a quick shout out.
Check out Manila Candle. ManilaCandle features Filipino
inspired scents like Tagaytay,Palawan, Ube Halaya and Buco
(00:29):
and Mango. They also have funones like Ay Nako and Bahala Ka
Sa Buhay Mo.
Patch (00:35):
Enjoy their car fresheners, wax melts and
merchandise to visitmanilacandle.com and take a
trip to the Philippines throughtheir scents.
Carmina (00:46):
Back to our show.
Patch (00:48):
Today's trip is a side trip when we take a short
detour to a specific place anddiscuss it in a bit more depth.
And today we're taking a tripto Pasig River.
Carmina (01:00):
Rivers play such an important role in civilization
and world history. So when youthink of big rivers, you think
of the great civilizations thatdeveloped all around it. So for
example, the Nile River inEgypt, the river Thames in
London, and the river Seine inParis. Everywhere there's a
(01:21):
huge river. It's inevitablethat civilization just develops
around it. And in the case ofthe Philippines, the Pasig
river was the cradle ofPhilippines civilization and
was a huge contributor to thedevelopment of Manila.
Patch (01:37):
The river was a major source of water and livelihood
for various communities thatsettled early on in our
history.
Carmina (01:46):
It was as also a major means by which people navigated
the city. It was a bigtransportation hub. I even saw
illustrations where the coconutfarmers would use the river to
transport their coconuts. Andif you think about it, coconuts
are really, really heavy. Youknow what they did?
Patch (02:06):
I kind of read about it, but yes, go ahead.
Carmina (02:08):
They built rafts made of the actual coconuts they
were selling that they wouldjust kind of prod through the
river until it got to the placewhere it needed to go. That
might have been a sight to see. Huh? What would they ride
after they sold all theircoconuts?
they come back where they camefrom? I'm sure there was a way,
(02:30):
but the rich and the elitebuilt summer houses along the
banks of the river. And infact, even Malacanang the
presidential palace was bornthere. So Patch, what do you
remember about the Pasig River?
Patch (02:45):
I don't remember much of it. It was very polluted. It
was very dirty, murky, andeverything smelled bad. So in
general, our family stayed away
Carmina (02:58):
Same here. I really don't think that it had any
kind of appeal to us when wewere growing up because it was
declared biologically dead by1990. You didn't go there
unless you had a really, reallygood reason to be there.
Patch (03:14):
Thankfully, there's documentation on how elegant
that area was. There's a quotethat I saw that describes Pasig
River was where the newest andmost elegant houses were built
upon the banks of the river.
Simple in exterior. Theycontained inventions of luxury.
It lined with vases from China,Japan, and it was really
(03:37):
dazzling to the eyes Carmina. Ifound an article that wrote
about how Jose Rizalromanticized the Pasig river.
So he wrote about it in ElFilibustorismo. There's a cave
in Guadalupe named DonaGeronima and legend has it that
basically she had a boyfriendwho was sent to Manila to study
(04:00):
when she was younger and shewas waiting for him.
Carmina (04:04):
Mm -hmm .
Patch (04:06):
Before leaving. He promised to marry her, but he
didn't return. Oh , typical.
Right?
Carmina (04:14):
Mm -hmm .
Patch (04:15):
When Dona Geronima went to search for him, she
discovered that he was alreadyan archbishop.
Carmina (04:22):
Ah . That was an unexpected twist.
Patch (04:25):
Exactly. And he gave her a cave near Guadalupe as, a
shelter for her to stay in. Andso that's where she stayed. And
it was believed that to thisday you would see her washing
her plates by the river,throwing them out into the
river and they would returnclean and gleaming
(04:45):
Well, for sure. Not today,
Carmina (04:48):
I actually also read a lot about the glory of the
Puente de España or the Bridgeof Spain, and it was a super
structure that connectedBinondo and Ermita. There were
a lot of historical accounts ofhow beautiful it was. That
bridge was the oldest in thecountry before it was damaged
(05:08):
by a flood in 1914. That'swhere you saw all of those
triple branched street lamps.
Those were made by a company inParis called Lacarrière., which
was renowned for theirlanterns, their lamps, their
candelabras and chandeliercreations that were seen in a
lot of historical sites and theworld back then. They brought
(05:30):
it all the way to Manila tolight and decorate the bridge.
It was damaged by a flood in1914, and it was replaced by
the Jones Bridge, which beganconstruction in 1916 and was
finished in 1921 . It was donein a neoclassical style and it
(05:51):
rivaled bridges in the US andEurope just as the Bridge of
Spain did during its time.
Patch (05:57):
Thankfully, Jones Bridge was transformed again quite
recently to its, well, maybenot to its former glory, but at
the very least it was restored.
Carmina (06:08):
Mm-hmm.
Patch (06:09):
Have you seen pictures of it lately?
Carmina (06:11):
I have. And there were many elaborate statues in the
original that were brought backto that restoration project.
And there's a particular oneactually for the La Madre
Filipina or in English, thePhilippine Motherland. So there
were originally four of them,but only three of them
(06:32):
survived. They were meant torepresent democracy, justice,
gratitude, and progress. We'lllink an article on our show
notes to describe and show whateach one looks like because
they all look different andhave different significance
anyway Patch. Do you know whyit's called Jones Bridge ? Did
you ever wonder.
Patch (06:53):
Now I am
Why is it called Jones Bridge?
Carmina (06:57):
It's named after a former Virginia representative
William Atkinson Jones. He wasthe principal author of Jones
Law, which is also known as thePhilippine Autonomy Act of
1916, which is the bill thatpromised our future
independence. He was thelongest continuously serving
(07:18):
democratic House member of histime. And some say that he
believed the US was better offgranting the Philippines its
independence because the costof defending and maintaining it
exceeded the benefits to the us. But he was actually more
known in the US and in thePhilippines as someone who
(07:39):
defended the Filipinos againstmisrepresentation. And he
really considered it a labor oflove to advocate for Philippine
independence. I'm going toquote from a speech that he
made on May 1st, 1916,"Fervently believing with that
great apostle of human liberty,Thomas Jefferson , that the
(08:01):
people of every country are theonly safe guardians of their
own rights. My prayer is thatthe day is not far distant when
we shall see a rise in the FarEast, a free and independent
Christian nation to be knownthroughout the world as the
Republic of the PhilippineIslands." He was so well loved
(08:22):
in the Philippines because ofthis, and it wasn't just the
bridge that was apparentlynamed after him. There is some
municipality named Jones andIsabella and the municipality
of Banton in Roblon, was alsonamed Jones in 1918 before it
went back to its old name in1959. And so those Las Madres
(08:43):
Filipinas statues that I wastalking about earlier was a
tribute also to Jones and thevalues that were embedded into
the Jones Law. Patch, you weretalking earlier about how we,
we no longer see thosemagnificent houses along the
banks of the river, butthankfully there are a few
historical landmarks thatremain. So we already mentioned
(09:05):
the Malacanang palace or thepresidential palace. There's
also the Immaculate ConceptionCathedral, which is one of the
oldest in the Philippines andBahay Kuwago, which was used by
Andres Bonifacio in some of therevolutionary efforts. So with
all its past glory Patch andall of the beauty that
(09:26):
apparently was around it, whatthe heck happened to it?
Patch (09:31):
Industrialization and quote unquote , progress
happened, right?
Carmina (09:36):
Mm-hmm.
part of the river banks duringthe Battle of Manila, and it
really never recovered from thewar.
Patch (09:44):
Remnants of the war and shattered buildings were
deposited into the basin.
Carmina (09:50):
And land-based transportation also became the
priority, which lessened thereliance on the river for
transportation. And so peoplekind of neglected it. Land
became the more important wayby which people earned a
living, and the river from thatperspective became useless. So
(10:11):
apart from theindustrialization byproducts,
people contributed by throwingtrash in the river as well, all
of which unfortunately affectedthe natural ecosystem of the
river. And oxygen levels becamevery low to sustain life.
Patch (10:29):
It's interesting that even during the time of the
Spanish, they already noticedthat the waters were starting
to not be as pristine. By the1930s, they continued to notice
the decline of Pasig river whenfish migration from Laguna Lake
decreased. And by the 1950speople stopped bathing and
(10:51):
washing in the river. Itstarted to smell and turn black
during the 60's. And by the70's, that's when the river
fell below Class C levels, asthey call it , of pollution.
And even below that, by 1975,by the 1980s, river tourism
(11:13):
diminished and all types offishing was essentially brought
to an end.
Carmina (11:18):
I found a study in 2012 on the chemical properties
of the water. 100 signifiesperfectly pristine. Manila Bay,
which is on one side of thePasig River, scored 16, and in
the center of the Pasig Riverit scored a six. And that was
the last study I found on theinternet on the chemical
(11:40):
properties. I even found itreally interesting that I found
an electronic freedom ofinformation request from a grad
student requesting for theup-to-date data of the chemical
properties and water quality ofthe Pasig River to use for his
or her master's thesis. And itdoesn't seem like there is
(12:01):
anything after 2012. At leastnot that I could find.
Patch (12:05):
So basically they just gave up
Carmina (12:08):
I know . That's so sad, right? But not everybody
gave up. Yes. There have beenmany rehabilitation efforts
over the years spanningdifferent administrations since
1989 when President Cory Aquinostarted the Pasig River
Rehabilitation Program and thetimeline was to bring the
Pacific River back to being ahealthy waterway within 15
(12:31):
years.
Patch (12:31):
That's right, Carmina .
And this was in collaborationwith the Denmark's Foreign
Development Assistance Program.
It was intended to restore theecological health of the Pasig
River through proper wastedisposal, public awareness, and
cleaning the river itself.
Carmina (12:49):
After that, there were several other projects such as
when President Joseph Estradaestablished the Pasig River
Rehabilitation Commission in1999. And even foundations like
the ABS CBN Foundation'sEnvironmental Arm Bantay
Kalikasan entered into amemorandum of agreement with
(13:09):
the Department of Environmentand Natural Resources in 2008
to join in the efforts. And itincludes a fun run for Pasig
River every month of October,which is attended by so many
supporters who begin activitystarting at four in the
morning. And we're going tolink a video in our show notes
to show some of the projectsand the changes over the years.
(13:32):
All of these efforts, even ifwe didn't stick with a 15 year
timeline
Patch (13:37):
Mm-hmm.
Carmina (13:38):
Seem to be working though because in 2018, the
Pasig River won over theYangtze River in China, when it
was recognized in the AsiaRiver Prize Awards. Plus fi sh
a re starting to populate theriver again. And in 2019 there
was this viral video, you know,showing a man catching a really
(14:00):
big fish. Although there havebeen warnings to not eat fish
from the river just yet.
Patch (14:07):
because the last time the localsaw fish or any kind of
creature
Carmina (14:19):
So a lot of optimistic developments. In 2019 though,
president Duterte ended thePasig Rehabilitation Commission
and handed over the functionsto the Manila Bay Task Force
and DENR. He justified this bydeclaring the river, quote
unquote already clean. But asalways, there's controversy
(14:42):
because a few months prior,Duterte fired the former head
of the commission because ofalleged corruption scandals.
Plus he also apparently saidjust a few months before that
the river was uncleanable. AndI can't help wonder if there
are other nefarious thingsunderfoot because now there's a
(15:03):
new threat that all of us needto be worried about.
Patch (15:06):
Are you referring to the Pasig River Expressway?
Carmina (15:10):
Yes. PAREX?
Patch (15:11):
Mm-hmm
Carmina (15:13):
The plan is to build a six lane elevated expressway
and it's being hyped as a wayto reduce traffic by providing
an east-west corridor in Pasigcity. The project is
spearheaded by the San MiguelCorporation.
Patch (15:29):
They are saying that this represents a solution
because building the newconnection between East and
West Manila will necessitatecleaning up the river. First,
they're going to spend all thismoney to clean up the river and
dredging the river beds,
Carmina (15:45):
Ninety-fve billion peso Patch, which is roughly
1.7 billion US dollars . Allsounds good and nice, but
thankfully there are watchfuleyes. And one of our high
school classmates, Sally, hiSally!
Patch (16:01):
Hi Sally!
Carmina (16:03):
Who is a member of the United Architects of the
Philippines Diliman Chapter isone of many architects who are
saying no to PAREX. They arejust one of many concerned
citizens who worry that PAREXwill further threaten the Pasig
River and will reverse manydecades of progress. So the
(16:24):
United Architects of thePhilippines Diliman Chapter,
wrote to nine senators, urgingthem to oppose the PAREX. And
they wrote a statement thatoutline a lot of important
facts, refuting the claimsabout the PAREX on the claim
that PAREX will solve thetraffic congestion. What do
(16:48):
they say?
Patch (16:48):
The assertion that more urban expressways will solve
traffic congestion is a falseand misleading statement.
They're saying because buildingnew roads does not ease traffic
congestion. And they also citedthe studies that show due to
induced demand, new expressways will actually increase
(17:10):
traffic congestion rather thanease it.
Carmina (17:13):
And not to mention that the environmental impact
assessment that was done saidthat there are a lot of risks
such as infrastructurecollapse, hazards, accidents,
spills to the river, greenhousegas emissions from increased
number of vehicles leading torespiratory diseases. And this
(17:35):
was never addressed in theproposal of PAREX or addressed
with a very light touch withoutany detailed risk mitigation
plans on how to address them.
Parex is also justifying theproject by saying that the
Pasig River is not anenvironmentally critical area.
(17:55):
So the UAP is calling forcloser scrutiny and to protect
the Pasig River by declaring itas an environmentally critical
area. They're also advocatingfor the river to be declared as
a national heritage site sothat we can protect it and
continue its restoration. Andas for that 95 billion peso
(18:15):
funding, they suggest that itbe diverted to public transport
system improvements instead.
Patch (18:22):
As far as tourism is concerned, in particular Pasig
River, we mentioned some of theheritage areas, the Jones
Bridge, Malacanang, etc. Canyou imagine these views being
blocked by a highway?
Carmina (18:37):
Yeah, I'll pay money for that
aside, why would you even wantto go where your sight line is
obstructed by a concretemonster like an expressway
Patch (18:51):
Exactly. We know we should protect our heritage's
visual integrity is what theycall it.
Carmina (18:58):
And then the other thing that I didn't really
think about patch until I readthe paper is what's called the
daylighting of the river. So bybuilding this expressway on top
of the river, it's going toobstruct sunlight. And as we
know, sunlight is veryimportant for all forms of
life.
Patch (19:17):
San Miguel corporation is claiming that PAREX will
only be built on the banks ofthe river . You know, they're
saying it's not going tocompletely cover the river, but
what environmentalists aresaying is it doesn't really
matter. Any portion of theriver being covered will
contribute to pollution and allthose other reasons that you
(19:39):
have mentioned earlier.
Carmina (19:41):
And you know, for people like us who have not
such great memories of theriver from our childhood, I
really urge everybody to go toYouTube, get their hands on
every video that they can findabout the Pasig River as it is
today. And you'll see all ofthose conservation efforts
really made a huge difference.
(20:01):
I was actually floored by thedifference
Patch (20:05):
Night and day.
Carmina (20:06):
And so we shouldn't stop the momentum. Instead we
should be doubling down.
Patch (20:12):
Let's also talk about what they are proposing
instead. They did outline someexamples of what was done in
other cities and what could bedone in our city as well. One
of which is the Singapore Riverexample. In the 1970s, the
Singapore River was pretty muchin the same state as Pasig
(20:32):
River. And it took Lee Kuan Yewten years and 170 million
dollars to clean up theSingapore River. And now if you
look at it, it is one of themost pristine rivers that has a
working urban water reservoir.
Carmina (20:51):
The other example that they provided is the
Cheonggyecheon river in theSeol metropolitan area. The
government actually dismantleda ten lane roadway and four
lane elevated highway. Andinstead they built a 10.9
kilometer long open space thatattracted 64,000 visitors
(21:13):
daily. And throughout theprocess, the government made
sure that the public wasinvolved. They held 4,200
meetings with residents andthey created a Wall of Hope
program to encourageinvolvement. It cost 345.2
million US dollars , but theproject resulted in very
(21:34):
impressive statistics. Therewas a 76% increase in
pedestrian activity, 45%decrease in vehicle volume,
4.5% reduction in urban heatisland effect, 10.3% decrease
in air pollution, 15.1%increase in bus ridership and
(21:58):
3.3 increase in subwayridership. And they're saying
that PAREX is almost twice thelength of Cheonggyecheon. So we
can just imagine the oppositestatistics that will happen. So
what can people do Patch?
Patch (22:14):
We are encouraging everyone to write the mayors,
their senators, theircongressman, anyone who is in
power to do anything aboutthis.
Carmina (22:24):
And we also encourage all of our listeners, anywhere
you're located to look into theIlog Pasiglahin movement by
Greenpeace Philippines. It'scomposed of heritage groups,
youth groups, biking advocates,and small businesses who are
united in opposing the PAREX intheir website. You'll find ways
you can contribute andparticipate. One of the
(22:45):
alternatives that's reallyheavily supported is what's
called the Pares, which standsfor the Pasig River Esplanade.
They have some beautifuldepictions of what it could be.
The other organization thatpeople should check out is that
Renacimiento Manila, which isanother group composed entirely
of volunteers who are artists,creators, and history buffs who
(23:09):
are working to conserve andeducate about old Manila.
Renacimiento Manila meansrebirth in Manila, in English.
And you know, Patch, as I waslooking into all of these
efforts, I was so encouragedbecause so many young people
are very active in IlogPasiglahin as part of the Ilog
Pasiglahin movement. Therereally have been many, many
(23:31):
events people have put up toincrease awareness. They have
fun runs, they have cleanupdays and I even saw a video of
a dragon boat race from lastyear. And Patch, we really
can't not mention another groupthat are unsung heroes and are
(23:53):
most often forgotten when wetalk about Pasig river
conservation efforts. We needto mention the river warriors
of Pasig.
Patch (24:02):
Oh yes, of course. I've seen the videos of them
actually diving into thewaters. They're actually doing
the actual work of cleaning thePasig River.
Carmina (24:14):
They're a small group of community volunteers who
have made it their life missionand some of them work and seven
hour shifts, like you said, tomanually pick up garbage and
God knows what else.
Patch (24:26):
Mm-hmm.
Carmina (24:27):
Many of them have been added for years and even
decades. So we really thankyou. So Patch, I want to end by
sharing one legend about howthe Pasig River got its name.
Patch (24:41):
Okay.
Carmina (24:42):
You might have heard of many origin stories. One of
them says that it's acombination of the word Pas
meaning fast flow of water, andIg, which is the Magindanawan,
one word for water, hencePasig.
Patch (24:56):
That word Ig is present in other words, that uh ,
pertain to water, like tubig origib.
Carmina (25:03):
Right. I read that too. There's another one that
says that Pasig is an oldSanskrit word that means a
river flowing from one body ofwater to another. And that
perfectly describes Pasig Riverbecause it flows from Laguna de
Bay , it's in the middle Pasigriver, and then onto Manila
Bay, which the seal of Pasigdepicts. There's a woman at the
(25:27):
center of the logo and on eachside of her are waves meant to
represent bodies of water. Onone side is Laguna De Bay, and
then on the other side isManila Bay . But this is my
favorite and it has somethingto do with your name.
Patch (25:41):
I knew it
Carmina (25:43):
So let me tell the story. Once there were two star
crossed lovers named Vergilioand Pas who decided to elope by
boat via the river, the boatcapsized and the man fell
calling his lover's name. Hesaid, Paz sigeme over and over
(26:07):
until he drowned
pass help me. And so I waswondering what must have Paz
over and over. So I guess inhis last moment, the sentence
(26:29):
was cut off in the middle as hesank and all he managed to get
out was Pasig glug glug. And Iguess that was the end of him.
Patch (26:41):
I would be waving goodbye
Carmina (26:50):
So that's our episode.
We hope you join us on our nexttrip. O siya, siya!
Patch (26:58):
Ingat! Thanks for listening to Filtrip with
Carmina and Patch SupportFiltrip through Patreon or
PayPal. And follow us onInstagram and Twitter.
Subscribe at Apple Podcasts,Spotify, or wherever all
podcasts are downloaded.
Carmina (27:16):
Thanks to FilTrip sponsor, Solepack, a functional
shoe accessory bag. Visitthesolepack .com for more
details.
Patch (27:25):
Email us at thefiltrip@gmail.com.
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