Duterte's leadership made Pasig river clean again

Cleaning the Pasig River. Image from ADB.

Recently, the Philippines received an Asia River Prize Award by the International River Foundation (IRF), citing its success on the cleaning of Pasig River. Although the rehabilitation started in the 1990s, why is Duterte the only man who made Pasig River clean again?

The yellows and anti discredit Duterte 

The anti-Duterte folks discredit Duterte's leadership for the rehabilitation of Pasig River since the Pasig River Rehabilitation Commission was established in the year 1999 through Executive Order 54 under the Estrada Administration. But little they know that the rehabilitation is on-going, but what took the cleaning of the Pasig River so long?

First, it was leadership. Although the Commission was established in 1999, the leaders after it was signed were less interested in the rehabilitation of Pasig River. In addition, undisciplined people living near the river caused even more pollution to the waters. In the 1990s, Pasig River was declared biologically dead. It was then that PRRC was created to restore the glory of our rivers.

In fact, in the height Pres. Benigno Aquino III's administration, the river was deemed dirty again after dredging. Until PNoy's term has finished, there was only less hope for the river to be clean despite efforts made by the PRRC.

Why Duterte's leadership was key to making it clean again

President Rodrigo Duterte gave Jose Antonio E. Goitia the task to head the PRRC. Mr. Goitia is Duterte's PDP-Laban party mate and credited the President for the cleanliness of Pasig River.

In a press statement after receiving the award, Goitia said, “One of the five critical criteria in the determination of the winner was leadership, which we attribute to the leadership of our beloved Pres. Rodrigo R. Duterte. It was Duterte's leadership that united both the public and private sectors into this shared mission of protecting the Pasig River and improving the lives of the communities around it with a strong political will."

Duterte's love for Mother nature

There is no denying that President Duterte is an environment warrior. That is the reason why he appointed Gina Lopez as DENR Secretary, resulting in massive closures to the alleged illegal mining in the country. Although her appointment was later on denied by the Commission on Appointments, it is clear that Duterte wants the restoration of our wonderful Environment.

Recently, he is also praised for the rehabilitation of Boracay through a 6-month closure, which gained criticisms, but in the end, was all worth it because Boracay is now as clean as it was years ago. Although the Clean Water Act of 2004 is there for the ensured maintenance of our beaches and waters, it was only under the Duterte administration that gave the law a teeth to even be implemented.

So yes, it was Duterte's leadership that made Pasig River and Boracay clean, and it is up to the cooperation of the people to keep it clean for the sake of tourism. Let us remember that Boracay is one of the things that put our country on the map as one of the best summer destinations in the world.