Pasig River
The Rehabilitation of Pasig River
The Pasig River is a 27-kilometer river which traverses the cities of Manila, Makati, Mandaluyong, Pasig, Taguig and the municipality of Taytay in the Province of Rizal. It serves as the only outlet that drains excess water from the landlocked Laguna de Bai to Manila Bay. It also drains four (4) major river tributaries - the San Juan, Marikina, Napindan and Taguig-Pateros Rivers and a vanishing network of 47 creeks and esteros.
In the years before large-scale development of Metropolitan Manila, the Pasig River was compared to the Grand Canal of Venice as it “serpented” inland, framed on both banks by patches of lush greenery and its water clear and unimpeded by waste or debris.
However, migration combined with high population growth resulted in an unparalleled explosion in the size of Metropolitan Manila. The failure of the metropolis’ pollution-control mechanisms to keep pace with this population expansion has seen Pasig River become a large dumping ground for garbage, sewerage and industrial pollution.
The Pasig River is now one of the polluted river in the Philippines. In the 1990’s its water was characterized as dark, murky and foul; and its banks proliferated by industries discharging untreated wastewater and informal settlers living in stilts and makeshift houses using the river as their toilet and garbage dump.
The Pasig River winds generally north-westward for some 25 kilometres (15.5 mi) from the Laguna de Bay, the largest lake in the Philippines, to Manila Bay, in the southern part of the island of Luzon. From the lake, the river runs between Taguig City, and Taytay, Rizal, before entering Pasig City. This portion of the Pasig River, to the confluence with the Marikina River tributary, is known as the Napindan River or Napindan Channel. From there, the river forms the common border between Makati City to the south and Pasig City, followed by Mandaluyong City to the north. The river then sharply turns northeast,
The Pasig River is a 27-kilometer river which traverses the cities of Manila, Makati, Mandaluyong, Pasig, Taguig and the municipality of Taytay in the Province of Rizal. It serves as the only outlet that drains excess water from the landlocked Laguna de Bai to Manila Bay. It also drains four (4) major river tributaries - the San Juan, Marikina, Napindan and Taguig-Pateros Rivers and a vanishing network of 47 creeks and esteros.
In the years before large-scale development of Metropolitan Manila, the Pasig River was compared to the Grand Canal of Venice as it “serpented” inland, framed on both banks by patches of lush greenery and its water clear and unimpeded by waste or debris.
However, migration combined with high population growth resulted in an unparalleled explosion in the size of Metropolitan Manila. The failure of the metropolis’ pollution-control mechanisms to keep pace with this population expansion has seen Pasig River become a large dumping ground for garbage, sewerage and industrial pollution.
The Pasig River is now one of the polluted river in the Philippines. In the 1990’s its water was characterized as dark, murky and foul; and its banks proliferated by industries discharging untreated wastewater and informal settlers living in stilts and makeshift houses using the river as their toilet and garbage dump.
The Pasig River winds generally north-westward for some 25 kilometres (15.5 mi) from the Laguna de Bay, the largest lake in the Philippines, to Manila Bay, in the southern part of the island of Luzon. From the lake, the river runs between Taguig City, and Taytay, Rizal, before entering Pasig City. This portion of the Pasig River, to the confluence with the Marikina River tributary, is known as the Napindan River or Napindan Channel. From there, the river forms the common border between Makati City to the south and Pasig City, followed by Mandaluyong City to the north. The river then sharply turns northeast,