The 2018 Asia Riverprize Winner: The Pasig River is Really Back From the Dead!
The other day while going to work, I had a thought... which then turned into a daydream.
On the 30 minute MRT ride, I was thinking if I sold several Philippine luxury condo units I'd have millions of pesos. And what would I do with it? 3 Million PHP would not even let me buy my own 1 bedroom condo in Metro Manila. Without thinking of exact details, I believe P30 Million would be enough for me and my family, plus charity work... Which charity though?
Of course first I would continue donating to fund other people's education via Caritas Manila. It will be my way of passing it on to others as I have also been able to have a college degree thanks to my grandma. (God bless her.) And then my thoughts turned to the environment.
Would P30 Million be enough to rehabilitate a polluted river?
Converting that to USD would only amount to $570,700 at the current exchange rate. Is that enough to clean the whole Pasig River? Thinking further, I'm sure it wouldn't be enough. What about if it's P100 Million, would that cover all the cost? Shouldn't the Marcoses be fully funding these kinds of projects if they don't want to pay for their ill-gotten wealth? (They have to declare it if they will do so.) I also wondered what the lucky and hardworking Filipino real estate agents or brokers, who've sold millions and millions and earned a lot of commissions, have done with their money. Yes, these were my thoughts while commuting to work.
In my mind I thought if I could find people or they could find me and buy whole floors of condominiums then I would be starting a project to rehabilitate the (biologically) dead river in Metro Manila. And then I thought, I would have to create an online crowdfunding for the project. I would also have to ask help from various groups: the government like DENR and NGO experts on the environment. We'd have to do research on rehabilitating it. There would be a need to scout the river from end to end and from top to bottom. That alone might cost a lot, I thought.
How would you even clean the bottom of a river? There might be a need for a lot of machinery and manpower, right? Would P100 million be enough? But of course you'd have to completely stop all the trash and pollutants going into it first. Oh rehabilitating a dead river is tough work even just thinking about it.
Of course my daydream had to end when I alighted at the MRT station in Makati. I then stopped by two banks to pay for an overdue bill and for owed money before going to work. Lol.
Isn't it wonderful I don't have a smartphone yet? I could have wonderful thoughts like that without having to do online research on my phone. Lol. Of course I decided I should post a related question on Musing.io after that train of thought.
Before midnight, I decided to post the question on Musing.io. When I typed the site on the browser address bar, a bookmarked Musing question came up:
You have 24 hours and an unlimited supply of money, what would you do?
Oh, perfect question to answer with my commuting thoughts eh? I have forgotten all about it! Lol. I also didn't post my question since the above is actually better than what I thought. Seeing it again prompted me to write an answer and finally do some online research about the current status of the Pasig River.
Because I don't watch TV or read newspapers and I rarely read or watch news online too, I am clueless as to the current status of the river. The last thing I've seen about it is a YouTube vlog from September 2018 about 2 Americans getting pranked to swim in it. They said it's smelly and dirty but kids are swimming in it.
Apparently in October 2018, the state commissioned Pasig River Rehabilitation Commission (PRRC) won the top prize at the first ever Asia Riverprize awards. Only two contenders but still... Wow! Good work! Amazing! I never knew Pasig River has already been declared alive. Lol.
1999 was the beginning of the rehabilitation of the biologically dead body of water. Almost 10 years later it is now way better than before! Fish can live in it! Great news indeed. The work doesn't stop there of course. I know there's still a long way to go before it gets really clean enough for people to enjoy swimming in it. Or maybe even drink it without having to resort to any portable water filters! Lol.
Maybe one day people can start fishing and cruising in it too! (Upon further checking, there is already a ferry boat route on it. Fantastic!)
Who knew the government rehabilitation drives like Piso para sa Pasig (A Peso for Pasig) and all the rest of the efforts were really effective? I was thinking it's been forever and I felt like nothing was happening while I wasn't really checking on its status. Whew. Finally and thankfully this international acknowledgement proves otherwise.
Hmmm, now what should I do with my millions when I finally have some? Yes I can donate to the causes I believe in and then what? Oh I have to really work on having those millions first. Haha.
P.S. Today I saw something amazing! This may be the solution to our water pollution anywhere!
I think what he created is something like cleaning enzymes because it's all natural and non-toxic. But of course, cleaning up the water of the world should not give us an excuse to pollute it again! Just because there is a possible solution we should not take proper waste disposal for granted!
You know, we should support nature advocates like that guy. I really think that person can solve our water pollution problems! Oh I hope so. Nas Daily is so awesome for sharing this info to the world. It's such an exciting time to live in this decade. Haha. Now I definitely know where to put my millions in the future! What about you?
XOXO,
@artgirl
Image from Facebook page of PRRC.
Written by @artgirl for Steemit.
© Art x Stephanie Rue
@artgirl is a freelance artist, writer and an online seller. For property inquiries, art and writing commissions, feel free to contact me.
For business inquiries, you can chat me up on Steem.chat, Telegram or send me a Facebook message. Link in my bio.
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An excellent read @artgirl, hopefully, some humanitarian efforts help raise funds to clean the river.
Thank you. I think there are some going on. Haven't really checked yet but yes I do hope so too.
And i am so much proud that the Hungarian goverment also donated 1.2 billion peso to clean the manila bay and the laguna lake😊 Just i hope that all the money will go to the right place not in some pockets and they will show to the people that this was made by my gov.😉
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Yes on Wikipedia it said the Danish people helped initiate the cleaning of the river. And now yes Manila Bay is next. We are grateful for all the international help. Perhaps some went to a few pockets but hopefully most went and will go into the project.
Hope so😊 And the next step should be to teach the people to dont throw they rubish into to the river.
You know many times when i travel or also here in this place where i am now i see and i am just womdering how the people in ph they dont respect the nature. Philippines is such a beautifull place i think most of the locals they even dont know how lucky they are to live here.
Ok i dont wanna blame just the simple people the gov. should also make a good solution to collect the rubish because the way they are doing it now is not effective😔 Even here in the small barangay where i live nobody dont collect the trash. 😔 I just pray and wish that it will be change in the future.
By the way i really enjoy to read your post and hope there will be more and more people like you😊
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Thank you. :) I'm sure there are plenty more like me and much better than me too in terms of what they have already done in their life and for the country.
As for the rest of the population, it is just a matter of education and information dissemination. People in the provinces sometimes live just the simple life and perhaps have lesser worries than those in the city. I have lived in the province before too and life there is always easier and chill because you can eat even without working. Just plant something and take care of chickens, ask some leafy vegetables from your neighbors or whatever and voila you're alive. Maybe to them there's no point working hard for whatever if they won't go hungry anyway. Unlike here in the city most don't think of doing that, especially in condos since animals are usually not allowed. Lol.
Anyway we are still a long way to go from being a first world country but I think we are getting there slowly but surely with the help of everyone.
he he yes that is true😁
As i mentioned in my post i am also planing later to come back here because i love this country and i am sure i can also do a lot for makeing it a better place. Right now i just share my opinion my experience.
But also there was a time when i had quiet lot of money and i made action also to support some barangays. But the best way is the education.
Funny maybe you dont believe that my country is also not a rich country. But the people live much better. Maybe i will make a post about this topic also in the future😊
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Nice. And that future post would be a good topic then.
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Here's the video that got removed.