Pasig River Run: What Lies in Manila's Dead River...

When thinking of the Philippines, often tourists and visitors fixate on the tropical sceneries of Boracay and Palawan, often with fresh coconut water and a blindness to the local issues of poverty and homelessness. Metro Manila, the urban metropolitan heart of the Philippines and home of the capital, has been regarded as one of the original global cities, due in part to its' use as a major port city by the Spanish during Spanish colonization. Yet, despite its early recognition, it is still seen a "Third World" city, a city that never caught up with modern industrialization. Like São Paulo and its favelas, Metro Manila has nearly 70% of its' population living in slums.

In this story map narrative, I will be analyzing the experiences of squatter settlements, specifically Tondo and the Smokey Mountains, and showcase the vulnerabilities they face, as well the Philippine governmental and societal attitudes toward these settlements. I will touch upon the significance of the Pasig River as a major dumpsite for the Philippine populace as it currently houses most of the informal settlements within Metro Manila. Furthermore, I will look at historic attempts in providing settlers new housing and how COVID-19 has greatly impacted said attempts and how it has further exacerbated conditions for these communities. My goal with this map is to give audiences a guided tour down and around the Pasig River to find what truly lies in the biologically-dead river. By looking at these settlements as products rather than reasons for metropolitan pollution, we can better humanize their rights and vulnerabilities. It is vital that we see Metro Manila beyond its' pollution and humanize squatter communities as citizens of the city who are contribute valuably to the citywide economy.

The map I devised for this narrative showcases two major points of importance (in blue) and five fixed narrative points (in green) audiences to interact with as they travel down the Pasig River and into Laguna de Bay.

Our first major point of importance is the Tondo Barangay and the nearby Smokey Mountains.

Our second and other major point of importance is the Material Recovery and Compositing Facility in Pasay City.

These points are important as they showcase a locational discrepancy in waste collection. The waste collection facility serves as one of the few major waste sites for the Eastern cities of Metro Manila yet is hardly accessible to low-income communities due to distance, traffic and lack of physical mobility. Furthermore, this site is closer to the densely-populated, higher-income communities within Manila, inferring that proper waste management is a high-income benefit.

The Pasig River is a major body of water that cuts across Metro Manila and connects Laguna de Bay to Manila Bay. During Spanish colonization and occupation of the Philippines, it served as an essential transport route for shipping as well as a source of water. Due to governmental negligence and the rapid industrialization in the late '90s, the river became so heavily populated, Filipino ecologists considered it "biologically dead."

In more recent years, the Pasig River has become a hub for squatters and informal settlers. With many squatter settlements built around the river, it has become increasingly vulnerable to flooding due to blocked pathways, sludge build up and obstruction by poorly-constructed homes and communities.

As a dumpsite, local researchers estimate that 65% (440 tons of wastewater) of the pollution in Pasig River is from household waste, not properly disposed. Furthermore, One Action Plan, an organization created by River Rehabilitation officials, identified 315 industries responsible for 30% of river pollutants. These pollutants include: copper, lead, manganese and zinc at highly toxic levels. The last major source of pollution for the river is the 7,000 tons of solid waste garbage produced by Metro Manila citizens, that was not properly disposed (Fitzgerald 2019).

Beginning at the mouth of Pasig River, we start our narrative in the Tondo squatter settlement to humanize the lives of squatters. Following, we head to a Pasig Riverside site, in which a dead man was found as his death relates to the state-sponsored extrajudicial killings of low-income highly vulnerable communities. Our third and fourth site showcase the interconnectivity of Manila's waterways as Pasig River greatly accumulates and harms other bodies of water such as the San Juan River and Marikina River. Furthermore, it must be understood that in order to actually rehabilitate the Pasig River, these two major bodies must also be acknowledged and rehabilitated as well. Our final site is the tail end of Pasig River, Laguna de Bay. As a receiver of the accumulated waste and a source of food (fish) for many Filipinos, the effects of waste pollution are greatly seen and felt in this site.

In Metro Manila, squatters and their communities are subjected to increased stigma as they are heavily blamed for issues like flooding, pollution and the obstruction of waterways.

Additionally, their living conditions are heavily vilified, and seen as " unbearable" due to the rotten air smell and an unsightly heavy pollution (). Furthermore, these squatters are often poor, low-income Filipinos who work manual labor jobs such as scavenging and waste collection and segregation. Based on settlement patterns, those are who are better located within the city are than likely able to contribute and benefit from the urban economic ecosystem (Valeriano 2012). As seen in the topographical map of Uligan charcoal factory, many of the homes north of the factory are covered in charcoal waste and pollution. In addition to poor air quality, these squatter factory workers are subjected to increased exposure to harmful inhalants due in part to industries like coal production. This type of vulnerability exposes many squatters to airborne sicknesses and viruses.

Furthermore, these settlements are often formed around low-rise zones around Pasig River riverbanks, dumpsites, and other public land spaces like parks (Lindfield & Steinberg 2005). Often, these settlements are located in highly-undesirable, infrastructurally weak areas of the city as Philippine city planners see these sites as "forgotten places." As a result, these informal homes built of scrap material such as used wood and scrap metal, scavenged from dumpsites. The poor quality of these homes make them susceptible to destruction during seasons of heavy rain, flooding events and tropical storms. As a result, these squatter settlements are often washed away with the floods, not only resulting in property loss but housing vulnerabilities as well.

Currently relocation serves as one the best solutions to addressing the squatter populations of Metro Manila. In an effort to reduce the overcrowding, exacerbated by COVID-19 within the metropolitan area, President Duterte created an ambitious program, known as "Back to the Province" initiative (Alegado and Calonzo 2020). In order to incentivize and lure low-income squatters to the countryside, the initiative offers cash reimbursement as well as various material goods. Currently, families that are approved by the initiative program can receive up to 110,000 Filipino pesos (roughly $2, 173) with priority given to the homeless, unemployed and those living in disaster-prone settlements. Economic critics as well as Filipino squatters see this a short-term resolution to the heavy job loss in Manila. Additionally, many of these squatters are concerned that living in the countryside would decrease their chances at finding work.

One such squatter settlement found out-city relocation to be a solution that they deemed unfit. The Estero de San Miguel squatter community of Metro Manila is one such community that continued to fight for their right to their settlements and made major strides in receiving government acknowledgement. Elected leader of Estero de San Miguel, Filomena Cinco, argues that it is "practical" to "live [in Estero]" as it is ideal for many of the squatter families in regards to proximity to school, church, markets and hospitals. By bolstering social togetherness, communities such as Estero show a preference for substandard housing in exchange for accessibility to the city. Additionally, unlike the countryside squatter re-settlers, residents of the in-city relocation have access to better low-income jobs such as construction and security. Using their social togetherness, Estero was able to use its' many citizens' political activism by offering electoral support for Benigno Aquino III, the president at the time. In doing so, they were able to claim victory in the name of in-city relocation (Almendral 2015).

Solutions conceived by the Philippine national government look towards relocation as means to addressing the overcrowded, growing squatter settlements. Although out-city relocation shows promise as it disperses these communities to unoccupied areas, it also showcases economic vulnerabilities felt by Manila squatters as they lose access to the city and its' economic lifeline. In-city relocation appears to be a more squatter-friendly resolution as it allows squatters to claim ownership over their occupied land. Yet, the vulnerability in this bolsters that only squatter communities with political power are capable of such a feat, thus rendering socially-scattered squatter communities nearly powerless. Furthermore, in-city relocation does not address the environmental ramifications imposed by these settlements, nor the environmental concerns they may have in regards to flooding, waste sewage and disaster preparedness.

As a densely-populated megacity, Metro Manila was felt the socioeconomic effects of the pandemic. Strict curfew guidelines, coupled with an ongoing "War on Drugs" campaign and government sanctioned extrajudicial killings have made these squatter settlements and their settlers easy targets.

Although as mentioned before, there are projects and movements currently acting in the interest of squatter settlements like Tondo, much of recent government activity has been largely harmful and has negatively impacted many of these communities. Amnesty International, along with other human rights nongovernmental organizations recognize over 7,000 deaths between July 2016 and January 2017 (Amnesty International 2017). These deaths are predominantly comprised of young impoverished men, typically unarmed and from crime-laden settlements like Tondo

Philippine state economists currently believe that unemployment and poverty will continue to keep their elevated rates, beyond the pandemic (Rivas 2021). Without much aid or acknowledgement from the Duterte administration, more and more Filipinos are expected to see themselves in economically vulnerable situations, such as food and housing insecurity.

The video below addresses the economic status of the Philippine economy. By understanding the context of this video in relation to vulnerable communities, we can better understand why relocation efforts have been weak and largely unfunded.

What lies deep within the Pasig River is beyond pollution and dead bodies...

What truly lies in Pasig River is the harsh realities of squatter settlements and the vulnerabilities their communities face. By assessing their living conditions and the realities of their labor, we can create find more infrastructurally-sound possibilities for long-term relocation without forgoing the health or safety of these squatters. Additionally, by accepting and validating their role as essential low-income workers in pollution management, manufacturing and scavenging, we can argue that these informal settlers have an important economic and environmental role, despite popular perception.

In creating this story map, I hope change the perception surrounding Filipino squatter communities and to push for their visibility within the agendas of the right to the city. To conclude, it is vital to not only acknowledge the vulnerabilities faced by these communities, but to accept their essential role in the Metro Manila economic fabric. By humanizing these people and their problems, we are better able to empathize with lives of Filipino squatters, such as the Tondo Barangay.