“Government gives priority to Pasig River rehab” needs follow-through for results

I found a news report on the Philippine Star entitled Government gives priority to Pasig River rehab. At first when I saw the title I thought perhaps something good might actually come out of President Aquino’s “surprise” inspection of esteros, something directly beneficial to the Pasig River, because suddenly there’s media attention on it again.

So I read the short report and found that most, i.e., more than half the report is merely a collection of confident statements of success, practically pandering. I won’t go into detail about what those statements are, but you can click here to see the report so you’ll see what I mean. I felt I had to leave a comment, and that comment you’ll see reposted here:

Personally, I think it’s too easy to say “We’re confident we’ll be able to do this, and we’ll be able to do that, etcetera etcetera.” What we need is REAL FOLLOW-THROUGH. No more of pandering, no more pa-PR, no more photo-ops like that shot of Lito Atienza on the PRRC website. If these people wanna claim they’re working on it, then bring the Filipino people some RESULTS FOR A CHANGE.

And if results were the order of the day then the leadership behind the restoration of the esteros AND Ilog Pasig should include the following broad tasks that could be reported back to the people in a YES or NO format on a SET DEADLINE:

(1) Have you traced where the pollutants of the esteros and Ilog Pasig come from?

(2) Have you reviewed where the law is weak when it comes to deterring waste dumping from factories along and nearby these bodies of water? Have you come up with amendments to give these laws real fangs?

(3) Have you determined the CAUSES that keep the esteros polluted besides the regular flow of waste water coming from more elevated locations? Have you formulated corresponding deterrents to these causes of pollution as well? Are these deterrents all-encompassing or typically full of exemptions?

(4) Have you come up with a sustainable maintenance plan covering preventive and remedial courses of action for events of light, moderate, and heavy pollution load on said bodies of water?

Those who assume leadership in this cleanup should not have any problem if held to account, and will answer these questions straight with either yes or no. We want results, not just hope. We’ve been stuffed with hope far too long. They should show us something new by following through already, by gathering some economics experts together for example, to study how the Aquino Administration would turn our country from a sachet economy to a prosperous one within his six years.

If President Aquino was serious about bringing about change, freeing Pinoys from being limited to buying tingi should be a good start. When more people can afford bigger, better things, it’s an indication that there’s work being done. And people less preoccupied with daily survival can care more about the environment.

I’m not sure if you notice, but the last two paragraphs are a bit baiting. Once somebody asks “What does a sachet economy have to do with all this?” then I’ll spring the trap. I think I’ve made clear in previous posts that I have a different view of our sachet economy and tingi buying habits, especially on how they relate to how much waste we as a society generate for buying them.

I view a tingi economy or sachet economy as highly profitable for the maker of products in sachet because even people of the lowest of incomes can afford buying these products, but these same makers could not care less about how much waste this sachet business generates. Also, the makers of these products can’t be expected to care much about people being economically uplifted, because even if people are poor, they still have to buy these products, and the manufacturer’s profit is already factored into the price. The point is, it isn’t the manufacturer’s job to get people to afford more product and bigger sizes, but it is in the manufacturer’s interest to make the largest profit out of the smallest items it sells especially if the greatest volume of sales comes from these small items. Plus, the smaller items generate the most garbage that get into waterways. More on these on another post.

Anyway, I did mention I’d rather see follow-through rather than photo-ops like this rather uhm, very subtle photograph:

Theatricals and posing for the camera don't get results.

Little did I know that one day later, the PRRC website’s header would no longer use that photo and use this maalis taya photo instead:

Now with so many taking the lead, there better be results. Good luck on following through.

It was almost a facepalm moment, but what the heck. If this team up actually follows through on thoroughly cleaning up the Pasig River, that would be nice for a change. If they find that the informal settlers are generating significant quantities of waste, then they better follow through and have these informal settlers resettled somewhere else they won’t cause the same problems. If they find that factories along Pasig River or even just near it have any solid waste or liquid refuse brought CLOSER towards said river instead of AWAY from it, they better be ready to audit these factories. If they find that there are just too many waste dumpers “legally permitted” to dispose of their refuse into any waterway leading to the Pasig River, all these permits need to be checked and re-checked whether they’re genuine or “bought,” and reevaluated as to whether or not any exemptions are deserved strictly under the law, so that they could be legally trimmed down in number.

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