METRO

Pasig declares forest park permanent

Neil Alcober

The local government of Pasig City has approved an ordinance declaring the city’s rainforest park in Barangay Maybunga as a permanent forest park for its continuous protection and conservation.

Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto on Tuesday said that Ordinance 6, Series of 2023 or an Ordinance Declaring Pasig City Rainforest Park as A Permanent Forest Park, was authored by Councilor Paul Roman Santiago.

The Pasig City Rainforest Adventure Experience and Pasig Central Park is a public park located at Barangay Maybunga, spanning 6.8 hectares and is a mixed recreational and natural park with a man-made lagoon, botanical garden, butterfly pavilion, maze garden, and a full-sized amphitheater.

According to Sotto, the forest park is one of the last green spaces and the largest open space in Pasig City.

“Our environmentalists call it the ‘breathing lungs’ of Pasig City,” Sotto told DAILY TRIBUNE in an interview. “We need to protect it [green space] so that the next generation can also experience it.”

Just recently, the city government has inaugurated the newly improved senior citizen park, pet park and the kiddie playland.

The rainforest park has also a jogging area, picnic area, and a camp site.

“We promote nature and we want people to connect with it,” Sotto said.

Originally, the rainforest park was 9 hectares, but this has been reduced to about 6 hectares when Sotto assumed post in 2019.

“It means that 30 percent of the rainforest was lost due to the construction of buildings and cutting of trees,” Sotto said.