Pasig River rehab
PEOPLE commend President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr’s decision last Tuesday, July 25, to rehabilitate and enhance the quality life along the banks of the historic Pasig River.
For thousands of years, the 25.2-kilometer river, which connects Laguna de Bay to sun-kissed Manila Bay, had been used for navigation and as a source of food and drinking water.
During heavy rains, the major tributaries of the now-heavily-silted Pasig River – Marikina and San Juan Rivers – overflow their banks, flooding low-lying communities in the metropolis.
Like other well-meaning Filipinos, we, thus, doff our hat to President Marcos for constituting a 13-member inter-agency council to spearhead the full rehabilitation of the vital river.
The creation of the “Inter-Agency Council for the Pasig River Urban Development” is contained in Executive Order No. 35, which was signed by Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin.
Specifically, the inter-agency council will be responsible for facilitating and ensuring the full rehabilitation of the banks along the Pasig River water system and nearby water systems.
It will be chaired by the secretary of the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development, while the vice chair is the head of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority.
Aside from facilitating and ensuring the rehabilitation of the historic river, the council is also mandated to formulate a Pasig River Urban Development Plan.
Likewise, it may recommend to the Office of the President the repeal or amendment of existing presidential issuances related to the rehabilitation and development of Pasig River.
Without doubt, this will be good for the country and the Filipino people in the long run.
