Like Venice

Venice is world-famous for its canals. The Pasig River is a river in the Philippines and connects Laguna de Bay (via the Napindan Channel) into Manila Bay. The river is called Ilog Pasig in Filipino. It stretches for 25 kilometers and divides Metro Manila into two. Its major tributaries are the Marikina River and San Juan River. The river used to be a transport route just like the canals in Venice, but due to pollution, it has been declared dead by ecologists.

The rehabilitation was started under former President Fidel Ramos. The project was known as The Pasig River Rehabilitation Project (PRRP). The comedian and actor president Joseph Estrada renamed it to Pasig River Rehabilitation Commission (PRRC). T.I.P., abbreviations make a difference. However, the project made significant strides. I have not seen the entire channel but as far as Guadalupe is concerned, they have made parks beside the river to create public awareness. Steps were done to stop industries from dumping their wastes into the river. They relocated the families who were living along the river for years. The river is now mainly used for transport, mostly cargo.

A recent project spearheaded by the PRRC, DOTC, and MMDA is to use the ferry as a public transport, codenamed The Pasig River Ferry Service Project. I am involved in the project as an "engineer behind the scenes". My company wrote the backend software that collects all data from the different stations, merge them into documents that can show different statistics. As of the latest commit of our software, there are 11 stations in all: Plaza Mexico, Escolta, Quezon Bridge, PUP, Sta. Ana, Lambingan Bridge, Valenzuela, Hulo / Poblacion, Guadalupe, San Joaquin, and Sta. Elena. The service was soft-launched last February 1 and opened to the public.

In the field, I've seen a lot of reality. On one side of the river, there's a man holding an electric rod used to shock the fish. It's a good thing because it means the river is coming back to life. On the other side of the river, there's a kid taking a dump. In a way, this is a dim picture: the river with life in today's generation, and the younger generation (the kid) pissing on it.

The Pasig River is not just any river because aside from its potential benefit as major transport route linking some of the major cities in Metro Manila, it is a thermometer of how we manage our natural resources amidst urbanization.