Gov’t mulls Pasig river rehab financing

Jin Yuan of the Chinese Embassy in the Philippines, said the proposed rehabilitation of Pasig river is an “urgent” project, but noted AIIB’s financial limitations to support the plan.

“The Pasig river rehabilitation will become an urgent project but as far as I know Pasig river is very large — across Metro Manila and 25-kilometers. So if the whole river, we have limitation, it will be quite expensive,” the embassy official said. Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto M. Pernia, meanwhile, said that the funding Pasig river should be prioritized

The government is considering to tap the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) for the rehabilitation of the neglected Pasig river, the country’s representative to the Beijing-led multilateral financial institution said.

Rolando L. Macasaet, Philippine representative to AIIB said yesterday that the government may need about R200 billion or roughly $4 billion of financing to rehabilitate the 25-kilometer river, which connects Manila Bay and Laguna de Bay.

“What I have in my mind is that the game changing projects for the Philippines that AIIB can really help is the rehabilitation of a major river,” Macasaet said, referring to Pasig River.

“My initial cost R200 billion, roughly $4 billion. But the government should initiate this and perhaps at my level, I can endorse it to the board for it to move on but it is the government that has to initiate the project,” he added.

According to Macasaet, once rehabilitation is complement, Metro Manila’s recurring problem on flooding could be solved, while helping regulate metropolis' temperature.

“We will have the best real estate prices along the banks. We can have walkways, and parks. We can improve the quality of life of our people. It is a matter of national pride if we can rehabilitate the Pasig river,” the Philippine representative said.

For his part, Economic and Commercial Counsellor by the Duterte administration.

“I think it should be given priority because it's not just an economic project, it's also an environmental and social project, so the benefits are multifaceted, compared with the other physical infrastructure projects that are really more physical and economic in orientation,” Pernia said.

Currently, the government has the Pasig River Rehabilitation Commission (PRRC), which is in charge to spearhead the projects for the enclosed coastal body of brackish water.