Dredging a Dead River

The Estero de Paco is one of the major estuaries of the Pasig River. It is considered as the most notorious of all the Manila esteros that flow directly to the Pasig River. This estero has literally become a garbage dump site of the households living along its banks. Since most houses do not have a proper toilet, the people also used the estero as their lavatory and sewerage. The Paco Public Market also contributes to the garbage problem by dumping their trash into the estero. This had gone unchecked for several years until the estero's waters had become stagnant because of the tons garbage that had been dumped into it.

Last month, I was able to photograph the PRRC's (Pasig River Rehabilitation Commission) regular dredging of the Estero de Paco. Two motorized heavy crane equipments dredged a portion of the river bed for a whole day. This dredging only included the part of the estero that was near the Paco bridge--since the cranes could not reach out farther down the river. Thus only a very small portion of the river was being dredged. I thought that if this was the way the Pasig and its estuaries are being cleaned--then we can no longer dream of a clean Manila river system someday. The dream is already dead even now.

Meanwhile, the tons of garbage that had been removed were momentarily piled along the estero's banks. Later, a fleet of garbage trucks collected the piles of garbage to dump it in the Payatas area in Quezon City.

Amazingly, after the dredging was done and the dredging crew left, I saw some people throwing trash into the river. I became so angry that I shouted at them, a thing which I rarely do. They thought I was still part of the dredging crew--and they left in haste bringing with them their garbage.

Meanwhile some youngsters from the nearby squatters began swimming in the estero. It was unbelievable since the estero's water still stinks--despite the dredging that had been done earlier. The boys had great time swimming and diving in the estero. It was the most disgusting sight I have ever seen.

Although the garbage had been removed on this part of the estero, the water was still muddy and slimy. These youngsters considered that it was already okay to take a swim.