Can we now be optimistic about the Pasig River?

Gina Lopez, founder of the Kapit Bisig para sa Ilog Pasig (KBPIP) and chair of the Pasig River Rehabilitation Commission, has been feeling pretty confident about the Pasig River’s future. Under President Benigno Aquino, P10 billion a year was forked out to clean the river. A ferry service started running in 2014. A few thousand squatter families that lived along the river’s banks and tributaries, or esteros, were relocated, and 17 of the 47 esteros are now rejuvenated, or so the KBPIP claims.

For Lopez, the Pasig River has become a personal crusade. She is now heading the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and she shows no signs of relenting.