DENR, Rotary Club Manila boost Pasig River rehab
‘These trash barriers will prevent garbage from floating down into the Pasig River, thus helping bring back the Pasig River to its pristine condition,’ said RCM president Herminio S. Esguerra.
A flagship project of the Rotary Club of Manila, the trash traps are the first of their kind to ever be installed in any of the Philippines’ waterways. | PhotographS by LARRY CRUZ for the Daily Tribune
The government found the right partner in the Rotary Club of Manila in sustaining the rehabilitation of the Pasig River.
True to its commitment to support environmental protection initiatives as one of its areas of focus, the Rotary Club of Manila, Asia's first Rotary Club, donated 395 floating trash traps to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources' Pasig River Coordinating and Management Office on 8 November 2022.
RCM president Herminio S. Esguerra said the floating trash barriers will be positioned at the opening of 18 esteros within the 420-meter stretch of the Pasig River.
"These trash barriers will prevent garbage from floating down into the Pasig River, thus helping bring back the Pasig River to its pristine condition," he said.
Rotary Club of Manila president Herminio S. Esguerra (third from right) with fellow Rotarians during the turnover of 395 floating trash traps to the Department of Environment of Natural Resources, represented by Assistant Secretary Joan A. Lagunda (standing, third from left), Executive Director of the Pasig River Coordinating and Management Office, at the Lawton Ferry Station on 8 November 2022.
A flagship project of the Rotary Club of Manila, the trash traps, according to Esguerra, are the first of their kind to ever be installed in any of the Philippines' waterways.
Esguerra, a long-time environmental advocate, said his involvement traces back to 1995 when he was a donor of the "Piso para sa Pasig" project under the Clean and Green program of then First Lady Amelita Ramos.
The Pasig River rehabilitation, he said, should be a multisectoral partnership of the media, local government units, the church, and the Department of Education.