What About Them Manufacturing Plants?

It appears even informal settlers along the banks of Pasig River see the strangeness (actually the inequality) in removing them from their homes while factories and other big company infrastructure are allowed to remain where they are.

(report from alertnet.org)

MANILA (AlertNet)- Squatters who live on the banks of rivers, creeks and other areas classified as danger zones in Manila face demolition of their homes as part of the Philippines’ adaptation strategy against climate change.

But many of the city’s urban poor wonder why malls and factories that similarly stand near waterways are not being targeted,

The validity of such a statement is unassailable. Indeed why should a government directive be applied selectively? Do the owners and operators of factories and other industrial facilities in the area have special concessions with the government that their continued stay along the river is seen as less of an obstacle to the river rehabilitation effort?

It seems the government’s reason for singling out informal settlers is actually based on statistical data. In my research, I came across a good amount of information proposing the idea that much of the garbage and pollutants that end up in the river come from households.

An estimated 65% of the pollutants in the Pasig river come from households,
30% from the industrial sector and 5% from solid wastes.

Metro Manila’s 11 million-plus residents, according to studies, produce
roughly 440 tons of domestic wastewater every day. The river became the
city’s toilet bowl.

Worse, as the city continues to wage its battle against solid waste, the river
also became the primary dumping ground. Currently, Metro Manila is
reportedly producing as much as 7,000 tons or 31 cubic meters of trash per
day. Out of this, about 1,500 tons is dumped daily (and illegally) on private
land, creeks, rivers and the Manila Bay.

One river clean up effort after another failed as the source of the pollution.
Metro Manila’s population of over 10 million individuals continued to
relentlessly dump waste and garbage into the river and its tributaries.

It’s important to note that the document I quoted from and linked to came from the Pasig River Rehabilitation Commission and Kapit Bisig. You can find the document here.

By the way, PRRC is a government formed organization of various departments while Kapit Bisig is a partnership between the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the ABS-CBN Foundation, which as everyone knows is the corporate citizenship arm of media giant ABS-CBN.

Ordinarily, I would pay no special attention to this background info. However, someone left a thought-provoking question on my article “The Truth About Pasig River Fun Runs”.

charles min goose says:
August 19, 2010 at 10:57 am (Edit)

question:

would media companies risk offending one of their major sources of advertising revenue by reporting that said advertiser spends very little on serious environmental projects?

I revisited the Kapit Bisig document and I found something interesting on page 3.

“Kapit Bisig sa Ilog Pasig,” the seven-year project would focus on the improvement of the physical appearance of the river and create awareness among residents about the sensitive river system to stop pollution around the waterway.

The project involves fund-raising campaigns, education campaigns, the insulation of materials in recovering facilities within the river’s zones, and the relocation of 4,000 informal settlers along the river.

Did you notice something? More specifically did you notice something missing?

The project involves fund-raising campaigns, education campaigns, the insulation of materials in recovering facilities within the river’s zones, and the relocation of 4,000 informal settlers along the river.

There’s no mention of anything about removing the industrial facilities located along the river and its tributaries. Nada.

The saying “Don’t bite the hand that feeds you” comes to mind.

Water Pollution: Pasig River