Pasig River project to boost tourism
THE Pasig River rehabilitation project is primarily aimed at boosting tourism and promoting transportation connectivity in the metropolis, the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) said on Sunday.
DHSUD Secretary Jose Rizalino Acuzar, who also chairs the Inter-Agency Council for the Pasig River Urban Development (IAC-PRUD), said the project, the brainchild of First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, is designed to benefit ordinary Filipinos in the long run.
Last month, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and the first lady led the inauguration of the initial phase of the project, which included a showcase area and pedestrian walkway at the back of the iconic Central Post Office building.
The walkway has since been attracting promenaders and featured in social and mainstream media.
Dubbed “Pasig Bigyang Buhay Muli” (PBBM), the project aims to transform Pasig River into a center of tourism and economic activity while helping address traffic issues in the cities along the river by creating a seamless connection between road and water transport, the DHSUD said.
Divided into nine sections traversing several cities in Metro Manila that intersect the river from Manila Bay to Laguna Lake, the project will allow pedestrians and bikers to travel the entire 25-kilometer stretch of the pathway.
Commuters can also transition from surface roads to river transport through bridgewalks that will serve as pickup and drop-off points for river ferries, the agency said.
Eight other showcase areas similar to the one recently constructed at the back of the Central Post Office will be built “to provide people with the ideal environment to enjoy a day or evening with their family or friends in a welllit open-space, park-like setting,” Acuzar said.
The project is scheduled for completion in three to five years and will be funded through private donations.
The revitalization project aims to make the Pasig comparable with other scenic waterways in the world, such as the Thames River in London, the Chao Phraya in Bangkok and the Seine River in Paris, Acuzar said.