River has been an essential body of water since the prehistoric era of human history. It has been a symbol of civilization, which shaped most of the communities and cities of the world; a gateway for cultural diversity; and was used for transportation networks for trading and resources for economic expansion and development. Although its functions have been evolving throughout history, its importance to everyday human life and ecosystem remains up to this day. However, along with the complexity of human activities, our river has been facing continuous threat and pollution that compromises the future of humans and the environment.
Today, September 26th, we are celebrating World Rivers Day to highlight the social, economic, and ecological values of our rivers, to raise public awareness, and to demand better governance and encourage stewardship of our rivers from the government and the public. It is an annual celebration every fourth Sunday of September, and first celebrated in the year 2005 as a response to the proposal initiated by Mark Angelo, an internationally renowned river enthusiast and advocate. The United Nation had considered the celebration as a good opportunity to achieve the Water for Life Decade in 2005.
Humans’ everyday activities are connected with the life of the river; however our privileges and the COVID-19 pandemic have detached our environmental consciousness particularly our responsibility regarding the status quo of our river, especially to its needs. Therefore, let us take this celebration as an opportunity to reassess our relationship with the rivers and to learn from it on how we can contribute in achieving the sustainability of the river in return for its ecosystem services. Its ecosystem services include the provision of fresh water for domestic, sanitation and agricultural purposes; water and erosion regulation; recreation and ecotourism; and as well as support for soil formation and the cycling of nutrients and water, which makes the riparian zones and wetlands highly productive.
According to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources or DENR (2019), 180 of 421 rivers and other bodies of water in the country are so heavily polluted and they may soon be declared biologically dead, including some major rivers such as Agno river that supports three dams, Pasig River in Metro Manila, Agusan River, and more; this is caused of domestic sewages and commercial and industrial wastes, which resulting to shortage of water in many cities and municipalities (Bengwayan, 2019). Improper disposal of products that we use every day and corporations utilized, including plastic and other materials that contain toxic and biogeochemical hazards, tend to get washed down into the rivers, especially in urbanized areas. Hence, being mindful of the products we use and implementation of policies that regulate corporations to support earth-friendly and biodegradable materials is a big step to sustain our rivers. Other culprits mentioned by Dr. Bengwayan (2019) are deforestation and water mismanagement. The Cordillera Ecological Center, an environmental NGO, said that at least six provinces in the Cordillera Administrative Region have only between 20 to 30 percent forest area with the province of Benguet having the least forest cover, where some of the principal river basins are located and development aggression is rampant. Furthermore, former director of Philippine Center for Water Sanitation or PCWS (2019), Rory Villaluna, claimed that water resources are inadequately protected, conserved and rehabilitated.
Moreover, during the term of Duterte, our rivers across the Philippines are not safe from the tragedy of the administration's anti-poor and anti-environment policies and projects. Kanan, Kaliwa, and Agos River in Sierra Madre are in danger of possible irreversible environmental damage, such as flooding and changes in volume and flow current of the river, once the Kaliwa dam was constructed under the New Centennial Water Source project of the government. Continued operation of unsustainable large-scale mining corporations in the country are causing degradation to our river; an example of this is the pollution and destruction in Dipidio River led by the open-pit mining operation of Oceana Gold in Kasibu, Nueva Vizcaya. Lastly, right now, the Toll Regulatory Board (TRC) and San Miguel Corporation (SMC) are planning to construct the Pasig River Expressway (PAREX) that will destroy Pasig River’s ecology and make Metro Manila more vulnerable to the climate crisis.
On this day, as we celebrate World Rivers Day, let us all be reminded that rivers are part of our civilization, part of our present, and part of our lives, because the death of our river is a death of our community. And as we seek what the river can offer us, let us all do our individual role in conserving it, and demand accountability and sustainable environmental action to our government.
26 September 2021
References:
Bangwayan, M. (2019). Many Philippine Rivers Are Dying – OpEd. Eurasia. https://www.eurasiareview.com/29042019-many-philippine-rivers-are-dying-oped/
Estrada, L.P. (2021). Why should the construction of Kaliwa Dam be stopped? Rappler. https://www.rappler.com/voices/ispeak/opinion-why-should-construction-kaliwa-dam-stopped
Freshwater Information System (n.d.). http://fis.freshwatertools.eu/index.php/infolib/ecoservices/provisioning.html#:~:text=Water%20for%20use%20in%20industry,both%20nutritional%20and%20economic%20value.
Sy, R. (2021). The injustice behind Parex. The Manila Times. https://www.manilatimes.net/2021/09/25/business/top-business/the-injustice-behind-parex/1815969
Vianello, A. (2015). River in prehistory. https://www.nhbs.com/rivers-in-prehistory-book
World Rivers Day (n.d.). https://worldriversday.com/
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