The Marikina River is full of trash again

You may have to wait longer for your dream to come true. I can't understand why we cannot follow the plan for Pasig River. Have you seen it recently? During my last project, my office had a great view of Pasig. I was so surprised that there were not a lot of floating debris there. It looked to me like the Pasig river was slowly being rehabilitated, and the efforts of Gina Lopez are not for naught. As for an environment-conscious president, he probably has not been born yet.

no, i don't see the river very often actually. i just feel sad whenever remember how instrumental the river was in rizal's el filibusterismo. it is no longer that river. i still hope that change will come. for the Philippines, there is no other way but up.

That's true. Pasig River has played a large role in our history. Like you, when I see the river, I think of our forefathers, how Maria Clara was courted while walking along the river with her umbrella. I go farther than that and imagine the very first settlers who navigated the river in search of a place to settle. It was through Pasig where the first Marikenos passed until they found this river bend where the land was fertile and the water clean.

That is just so true. As I was looking at the river, I remember what happened before, during and after Ondoy. Before Ondoy, the government did not have an emergency plan in place. Imagine storing all the emergency equipment in a low place! Thus, when Ondoy came, they were the first victims, instead of being the first responders. Right after Ondoy, the government was so fastidious about garbage. This year, since no disaster struck, they just completely abandoned cleaning the river. I voted for this administration, and now I regret my vote because I did not scrutinize closely their plans for the environment.

What do you mean by you voted the administration? I mean the mayor?

Yes, I mean the local officials now sitting in office now. My main concern at that time was that the programs of BF/MCF will continue. I thought that since they were endorsed by the Bayanis, they would at least continue the former administration's programs.

Amen to all of that! I also noticed how Marikina is reverting to the Marikina with bad reputation. I remember we use to be known as the dumping ground for salvage killing. I thought that the Fernandos put us on the map with the numerous environmental awards we won. He is only proving his incompetence. I did not realize that 3 years is such a long time to wait for change.

the advocate, i feel sad there are people like that who doesnt care about nature. in our dialect "tipong hindi nadala" (they never learned) from the flood. ann

That would be a good idea if we were not the same people throwing the trash in the river. Sadly, a lot of Marikenos don't realize the value of a clean river. One time I tried telling an old man for throwing trash in the river. He asked "why not, it's just going to float down the river anyway" - meaning it's okay to throw trash as long as it does not end up in your backyard.

Yes, that's the jogging path connecting Riverbanks to River Park. The River Park is the one near the Marikina Bridge where they hold the annual christmas flea market. That jogging path has been maintained and it snakes along the river, all the way to Concepcion. People still jog or ride along this path; the difference is just that the river is dirtier.

That's the problem when politicians have different priorities. Marikina may have prioritized the cleanliness of the river that runs through it but as long as other municipalities are apathetic and just continue to abuse and throw garbage in the same river then the garbage problem will continue until another Ondoy type calamity strikes again and put some sense to the people for a while and then go back to the same rat race again after some time.

I agree. We have been blessed by God with a beautiful country but we have thrown it away with our indifference. What little we have, we neglect to protect. But we are not alone in this indifference. It's mankind's curse that we do not know how to take care of a gift.

I made the same comment a few months back. I was surprised about the sudden change. I use to be proud of Marikina, with its clean roads and disciplined citizens. I thought that since the current administration was endorsed by the Bayanis, they would continue their program. I was shocked to find a lot of beggars at around city hall begging with impunity. I remember during the time of Bayani and MCF the local DSWD would make the rounds and I even witnessed several times when they were convincing beggars to go to the center. I think nobody does that nowadays anymore.

I have chided people I have caught throwing trash in the river and the most frequent answer I get is "why not, it's going to float away anyway" - as if that makes it any better. It's okay if they don't see the trash not caring that the trash has to end up somewhere along the river. It does not magically disappear. The river is not a garbage compactor!

I agree, the riverine residents should take responsibility. As I am one of them, I am guilty of inaction too. I do take pride in the fact that I make it a point not to throw trash anywhere except trash cans. For quite some time now, I have been thinking of organizing clean-up groups that will do some regular cleaning along the river. However, I have found people's apathy to be the main hindrance. A lot of them told me that that is the job of the government.

I agree that the responsibility to ensure the cleanliness of the river does not rest entirely with the local government. They just cannot police every square inch all the time. You know how Filipinos are, will always try to evade liability as long as they can. But I do think that there should be a comprehensive plan devised by the local government to rehabilitate or maintain their ecosystem. Somebody has to lead, but like you said, the citizens have to follow. But there should be some kind of plan in order for this to succeed. As for proper disposal, my question is: why is it that during BF's time, people were more conscientious in their garbage disposal while in this administration people just don't care? A very good example is that whereas before we would be conscientious in segregating our garbage, now, I see that people have gone back to their disgusting habit of not leaving their garbage open for the cats and dogs to go through. I also agree about your point on informal settlers. In fact, one of the reasons for the success of the rehabilitation of the Pasig River is that their plan includes teaching informal settlers proper garbage disposal and integrating them into the sewerage system. Here in Marikina, although we have informal settlers, their number is not huge (compared to Manila). Most of the people here have roots that go way back when Marikina was first settled. Probably our sewerage system is a bit old and the government has not taken steps to rehabilitate them.

That is why I voted for this administration because they were endorsed by the Bayanis. Sadly, it is not the same as voting them in office. I have lived here in Marikina for most of my life and I have seen the growth of this city under their administration. In a few years, I might see it return to the old Marikina if the trend continues.

I agree, it's only been over a year since Ondoy, and we have returned to our old ways of using the river as our trash can. To think these were also the same people who wailed that the government is not doing anything. People do not realize that the little things they do to the environment will impact their lives as well.

What can I say, politicians promise the stars and the moon during campaign, and then once elected, they are promptly afflicted with amnesia. I did see some city hall employees cleaning up the river right before the anniversary of Ondoy. But after that, they just disappeared. I guess it was all for show. We do not have a lot of informal settlers here. It's an old community, and most riverine residents have been living in the same place where their ancestors lived when they first settled here. The problem is more of the result of apathy.

Marikina River runs right through Pasig, and so it's a big river with stretches downstream where there are no settlers. A few years ago, it was lined with factories which dumped their trash right to the river. Nowadays, tough environmental laws have forced most factories to move, foremost of which is Purefoods. We do not have a lot of informal settlers here, at least not the way Manila does. A major portion of riverine residents own their houses as it was passed down to them by their ancestors.Down river however, nearer the boundaries of Marikina and Cogeo, is where BF dumped the informal settlers that he forcibly removed decades ago. We're sort of an old community. We do not have people living or sleeping under bridges. The local government is quick to remove them. I do think that because we are ancient, so is our drainage system. This was one of the lessons we learned during Ondoy - our drainage system is woefully small and inadequate to support a riverine community. But I digress. The CCTV cameras installed are for purposes of monitoring the flow of water for our early warning system in case of flood. During BF's time, littering was closely monitored and penalized - not so now. You may be partly right that some residents are not taking the law seriously, possibly because there is not much monitoring these days. I have seen people throw garbage willy-nilly. It's sad, but Marikenos need to be monitored just so they will follow rules. No consideration for the environment.