Some Sta. Ana, Manila folks went to catch tilapia and kanduli (catfish) from the Pasig River on Sunday encouraged by a viral video of fish caught there previously.

The fact that fish are thriving once more in the once “dead” river seems to indicate that its water quality has improved, according to Pasig River Rehabilitation Commission (PRRC) public information head George dela Rama.

And seemingly affirming Dela Rama’s opinion was the grilling and eating of tilapia by the catchers. One of the residents who ate the grilled tilapia, Emmanuel Torres, swore the good old taste of fish caught in Pasig River has returned. Children also partook of the cooked fish with gusto.

Torres recalled that they have been catching and eating different kinds of fish from the river when it was still clear in the ’60s and ’70s, but stopped doing so when it became murky in the 1990s because the fish tasted of grease. He blamed the refinery that discharged oil into the river for the bad flavor.

Dela Rama advised residents to first wait for the result of the water quality check they conducted before eating fish caught there. But nobody listened.

According to the PRRC, the river’s fecal coliform level went down from 1.2 trillion parts per million (ppm) in 2009 to 82 million ppm last year. For Torres and the others, however, consuming the fish did not cause any ill effects. That’s how tough their guts are.