Thursday, April 03, 2008 [ manilatimes.net ]
Fifty rivers in the Philippines have been destroyed because people are using them to dump their rubbish, leaving some ecologically dead, the Environment Secretary said Wednesday.
Of the country’s 421 major rivers and 20 large river basins, 50 are “highly degraded because of man’s abuse and neglect,” Environment Secretary Lito Atienza said in a statement.
“History tells us that rivers have played an important role in the country’s economic growth. Yet, we have disregarded this and continue to dirty our rivers and lakes by turning them into giant septic tanks and trash bins,” he added.
One of the ecologically dead rivers is the Pasig which dissects Manila. The government has been relocating thousands of squatters from its banks, but those who remain “continue to throw their domestic waste into the river,” he said.
Atienza said 53 percent of the pollution in Philippine rivers is from domestic waste.
Given the situation of the country’s rivers, the Environment secretary said the public should start conserving water and planting more trees.
“In the face of climate change, it is important that Filipinos now adopt water conservation as a way of life,” the environment official said, urging them to plant trees.
“Trees moderate water flows by absorbing large amounts of water during heavy rainfall and releasing them gradually during the dry season.”
Atienza, along with the EcoWaste Coalition actually sounded the alarm to conserve water on fears of a looming water shortage during summer.
“There is no other time in our country when water becomes even more important and very precious than during the hot summer months,” Atienza said.
Besides pollution, Atienza cited other reasons for the looming water shortage are over-extraction of groundwater, dwindling supply of surface water due to neglect of watersheds, and over-exploitation of forest resources.
He also cited climate change as a big threat to the world’s water resources and said “Filipinos should now adopt water conservation as a way of life, and not simply during the summer months.”
Atienza also urged the public to continue tree planting, explaining that trees are important in cleaning the atmosphere, replenishing our water bodies, and in regulating the climate.--Ira Karen Apanay with AFP
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