Save The Rivers in the Philippines. They are Dying

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An example of a RIPRAP/GUTTER system that will permanently solve the river polution and the polution of the Sea.

An actual picture of a rip-rap built in 2014 in Calinan Proper Davao city philippines with sewer built to drain into the river. A simple river gutter system could prevent the polution.

Polluted River of Marilao, Bulacan, Philippines
The people and the government do not CARE. No pride in their heritage.

Polluted River of Marilao, Bulacan, Philippines.

This river runs deep but I bet you a chicken can walk across this river without sinking!

The Marilao in Bulacan is among four iconic rivers whose polluted conditions are spotlighted in ‘Hidden Consequences’, a new report published today by Greenpeace. The report calls for urgent action to protect the livelihoods of the people and wildlife that depend on these waterways and the life-sustaining resources that they provide, by demanding that policy-makers commit to a Toxic-Free Future.

Truckee River running through downtown Reno, Nevada. Pristine, Crystal Clear and unpolluted. It really depends on the people. Here the citizens and the government care. They are proud of their river.

Wars of ancient history were about possessions, territory, power, control, family, betrayal, lover's quarrel, politics and sometimes religion.

But we are in the Modern era and supposedly more educated and enlightened .

Think about this. Don't just brush off these questions.

Why is RELIGION still involved in WARS? Isn't religion supposed to be about PEACE?
Ask yourself; What religion always campaign to have its religious laws be accepted as government laws, always involved in wars and consistently causing WARS, yet insists that it's a religion of peace?

WHY??

There are only two kinds of people who teach tolerance:

The Bullies. They want you to tolerate them so they can continue to maliciously deprive you. Do not believe these bullies teaching tolerance, saying that it’s the path to prevent hatred and prejudice.
The victims who are waiting for the right moment to retaliate. They can’t win yet, so they tolerate.

You can get to this webpage by using this short URL:
http://www.zamboanga.com/rivers

Protect and Save The Rivers and Lakes of the Philippines. They are Dying

You can get to this webpage by using this short URL:
http://www.zamboanga.com/rivers

The caretaker of the Natural Resources of the Philippines is the DENR Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR)]
Secretary Ramon J. P. Paje
Department of Environment and Natural Resources
Visayas Avenue, Diliman, 1100 Quezon City, Philippines
+63-2-929-6626
osec@denr.gov.ph

DENR MISSION
- Our mission is to mobilize our citizenry in protecting, conserving and managing the environment and natural resources.
- It is our mandate to stop environmental abuses, reverse ecological degradation, conserving remaining natural resources and ensure that they benefit our people

The Rivers of the Philippines

There are 421 rivers in the Philippines. You can find them here: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/RP-Rivers/

Efforts to Clean the Rivers of the Philippines

Protect & Save the Rivers. Do not let your sewer drain into the river. Your community can be the first to initiate this project.
Build your riverbank protection with a built-in gutter system.

As of the year 2013, the Philippine rivers continue to be the #1 sewer system in the Philippines.

The government from the barangay level to the Regional level has embarked on several yearly projects to clean the rivers. This yearly endeavors do not really clean the rivers. They help remove the debris but the lethal toxicity, the slime and grime in the rivers remain.

There is one fact that everybody knows from young children to old men and women; Nature cleans itself. Yes it does. In the case of the Philippines, mother nature tries very hard. We all know that every year during the rainy season the floods cleanse the river systems of the Philippines. This is a yearly purge that Mother nature does. But it does not stay clean for long.

The political leaders and top-notch government officials usually right before the rainy season come along (last week of April), will go on a campaign to clean the rivers. Plenty of volunteers, clubs, associations will be involved. There will be lots of picture taking and publication. They will do some work knowing full well that Mother Nature will be right behind to clean-up the rest. Generally the rainy season in the Philippines starts in the month of May or June.

The efforts of these leaders are good and all mean well, but they do not solve the problem. Because right after the clean-up efforts the people (including some of those who volunteered) go back to their old bad habits of throwing their garbage in the river and flushing their sewers into the gutters that empty into the Rivers. This continues on and on and on. Then the following year the government officials campaign again to clean the rivers and the cycle repeats itself.

When will they ever learn.

The SOLUTION:

Save the Lakes of the Philippines

Lake Lanao - Save It - Lake Lanao is located in the Province of Lanao del Sur, Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, Philippines. It is one of the 17 ancient lakes of the world and used to be home to 18 endemic fish species, a special kind of fish that only existed in Lake Lanao. It is also the ancestral domain of the Meranao people and is the heart of the people’s spiritual, cultural, social, political and economic life.....>>>Read More

Save Laguna de Bay from Pollution and Sewer Drainage

Laguna de Bay is surrounded by highly populated and urban communities, most of which drain their sewer systems in the lake.

	:article below copied verbatim from :http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/56646/Laguna-de-Bay Laguna de Bay, lake, the largest inland body of water in the Philippines, on Luzon just southeast of Manila. Probably a former arm or extension of Manila Bay cut off by volcanism, Laguna de Bay (Spanish: “Lake of the Bay”) has a normal area of about 356 square miles (922 square km) and is about 32 miles (51 km) long. Its shallow, crescent-shaped basin is poorly drained by many small streams, and the surrounding low-lying plains are inundated during seasons of heavy rainfall. The Pasig River is the lake’s outlet to Manila Bay, 10 miles (16 km) northwest. An important fishing area, with productive wet margins (rice), Laguna de Bay is broken by two peninsulas in the north and dotted by islands; densely settled Talim (9 miles [14 km] long) is the largest. Santa Cruz, Biñan, and Calamba are towns on the lake’s southern shore.
The housing development you see above in the aerial picture drain their sewer into the bay, gradually polluting and killing the bay. Installing a gutter system around the bay will help solve the pollution problem of the bay.
	The Power plant on the shore of Laguna de Bay, Sucat, Muntinlupa City, Philippines and the flourishing communities next to it drain their polluted sewer into the lake of Laguna de Bay

What the leaders of the Philippines are saying

Solution to the Sewer System and Salvation of the Water Systems of the Philippines

There is a law in the Philippines that protect the river banks
DENR Administrative Order No. 97-05: In the interest of the service and in order to promote ecological balance and protection of the environment, the provisions of R.A. No. 1273, P.D. No. 705 (as amended ) and P.D. No. 1067 shall be strictly implemented.

The Solution to the problem:

Follow government Building Codes:
- Apartments, condominiums, commercial buildings, subdivisions must have a septic system with leach lines. If leach lines are not possible then the septic must be drained to a common area for processing. The lines must never be drained into the sewer system of the city, unless the city has a sewer rehabilitation pond already in operation.
- The contractors or developers must come up with a plan that addresses the problem of sewer and septic before the city/municipality can grant him/her the permit.
- If the development is in an area where the city/municipality does not have a sewer system in line, the developers must come up with a plan that will include the creation of a receiving pond to treat the sewer and septic drainage.
Install Gutter or drainage system for rivers: Most rivers in urban areas already have their river banks cemented (riprap) to protect the buildings that are built next to it. Most of these buildings if not all have their sewer systems drain right into the river. This is already an accepted practice in the Philippines. But there is a cure for this.
1. Install culverts within the "riprap" of the riverbanks or beside it. The culverts will be the main gutter system of the community. The community's sewer will flow into this gutter system which will empty out down river into a designated pond for treatment and then later released back to the sea or used for irrigation.
2. Install an open gutter alongside the "riprap". The sewer of the community will be drained into this open gutter alongside the riprap and since it follows the flowing level of the river the sewage will flow very easily.
Actually this open gutter system will work much better since it will be easier to maintain and cost less to build.

The picture below is just an example:

For those with engineering ingenuity or engineering, architectural or construction background; you can design this gutter system that goes side by side with the riprap and send it to franklin_maletsky@yahoo.com. I will then forward your designs to the Secretary of the DENR with a cover letter.
For those who do not have the urge to write. Please talk to your community leaders. Plant this idea of the "gutter system inclusive with the riverbank protection system" in the heads of your community leaders. Once the idea gets around, it will be just a matter of time before someone will take the idea and have it materialized.
Many communities in the Philippines already have a built in gutter system and most of them drain into the nearby river, lake or sea. For those that drain their gutters into the rivers, option #2 will be a quick solution.
The task to build this new system will start from the main river source and build it slowly down river. In order for this system to start, the barangay leaders must meet and approve this project at the barangay level. The approval must be first, then the funding will come. The barangay must pass a resolution to have such a project. The money may not come immediately from the top level authorities but it will in the future. The money will never come if the project initiative is not approved first at the barangay level.
For those barangays whose rivers are already too polluted, it is not too late. Actually it is never too late. For those barangays whose rivers are still pristine and clean, keep it that way. If your leaders do not take the precaution to protect your rivers, it will be just a matter of time when your rivers will also be polluted.
Start this campaign with the youth. Contact your Barangay Chairman. From there your Chairman can contact the Federation President. This way your municipality/city will be aware of your endeavor. Then all the barangays in the municipality/city can follow your quest.
To whoever is reading this, approach your barangay leaders and talk to them about this project. The "naysayers" will always tell you that the City or Municipality must first look into this situation. Do not depend on the city/municipality planners to act for your barangay's behalf. The initiative must first come from the barangay level. You must create the NEED. Once the NEED is there, the big-wigs government officials will start to listen, then funding will come.
You can write a letter to DENR Secretary Ramon J.P. Paje with a copy to the local DENR director in your region or province. You can request that all funding for the construction of riverbank protection or "riprap" be inclusive with the gutter system to drain the sewer of the community. This gutter system will stop the sewer of the community from flowing into river. If the DENR funds for this riverbank constructions with the "condition" that the gutter system be inclusive, the resurrection of our dead rivers is coming and it will also guarantee the cleanliness of the rivers that are still unpolluted.
Write a letter to Secretary of the DENR and recommend the above solutions.
- Secretary Ramon J. P. Paje
- Department of Environment and Natural Resources
- Visayas Avenue, Diliman, 1100 Quezon City, Philippines
- +63-2-929-6626
- osec@denr.gov.ph

Here are two examples as why you should write: No mention of a sewer system in any of the funding.

CEBU CITY, March 15, 2012 (PIA) --- More than P140-M funds were allocated to nine local government units (LGUs) in Central Visayas under the Integrated Coastal Resources Management Project (ICRMP) of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).>>Read On
Lanao del Sur, April 05, 2012 (PIA) --- The governor of Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao has called on his constituents to cooperate and support the region's efforts in protecting the environment. As government's support to the ARMM, the National Economic Development Authority Board has approved the P7-billion Integrated Natural Resources and Environmental Management project of the DENR, which includes the rehabilitation and greening of the Lake Lanao watershed.>>Read On

If you have any comments or suggestions please contact the founder of zamboanga.com
Franklin H. Maletsky and his email is: franklin_maletsky@yahoo.com

The Solution is so simple: Yet the DENR continues to ignore it

Rehabilitate the Pasig River and the Laguna de Bay lake

There are so many articles written about the rehabilitation of the Pasig River. Many attempts are made to clean the pasig river. The Philippine government talks the talk but can't walk the walk even with the help from international funds to clean the river.

Believe it or not the Philippine government created a "commission" called the Pasig River Rehabilitation Commission (PRRC). This commission was created in 1999 by virtue of Executive Order No. 54, as amended by executive Order No. 65. Fourteen (14) years later not much has been done. The organization does not have a whole lot of success stories to showcase the things that they have accomplished.

Here is a "success" story that the PRRC has in their website. This is great and hopefully there will be more, but they did not address the sewer system problem. The sewer continues to drain into the pasig river and continues to kill it.

The pasig river continues to get more and more polluted as the population of the communities nearby increases.

The pollution of the pasig river starts at the source. The source of the pasig river is Laguna de Bay, the biggest lake in the island of Luzon. Laguna de Bay is also the most polluted lake in Luzon.

Let us remember one thing and always bear this in mind: "We pollute". People generate pollution. If we start with that concept we are going to find the solution. In our current society, the people are completely dependent on the structure of the government. Just take these two instances: garbage and sewer. If the government does not provide the weekly garbage pick up and proper drainage of sewer, where in the world will the poor living along the pasig river drain their sewer and throw their garbage? This river is 27 kilometers long and every bit of it on either side of the river is populated.

I suggested the river gutter system to many denr officials and also to the PRRC back in 2012 but to this date there has been no reply from them.

As of 2016 the Pasig river continues to be the #1 sewer system of the Philippines.

Participate in this Facebook discussion regarding the rehabilitation of the Pasig river.

Some of the longest rivers in the Philippines

Cagayan River (also Rio Grande Cagayan)
Location : Cagayan Valley

Length : 505 km
Rio Grande de Mindanao (also Mindanao River)
Location : Southern Mindanao

Length : 373 km
Agusan River
Location : Eastern Mindanao

Length : 350 km
Pulangi River
Location : Bukidnon

Length : 320 km
Pampanga River
Location : Central Luzon

Length : 260 km
Agno River
Location : Pangasinan

Length : 206 km
Abra River
Location : Benguet

Length : 178 km
Abulog River
Location : Kalinga

Length : 175 km
Chico River
Location : Kalinga

Length : 174.67 km
Davao River
Location : Mindanao, Davao

Length : 160 km

Photos of River Cleanups

Pateros River Cleanup, Sto. Rosario-Kanluran, Pateros City Feb 2015

News about the rivers of the Philippines

Manila Water sets free desludging schedule for May

MANILA – Manila Water on Wednesday urged its customers in the East Zone of Metro Manila and Rizal Province to avail of the septic tank siphoning services free of charge scheduled for the month of May. In a press statement, Manila Water said this is part of the company’s environmental protection program to ensure clean drinking water.

Continue reading:https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1174246

You can get to this webpage by using this short URL:
http://www.zamboanga.com/rivers

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