She may be out of the government, but former Environment Secretary Gina Lopez can still wield some influence and mobilize resources and support for the Mandaue City government’s plan to rehabilitate the Butuanon River.
Lopez’s presence during a multisectoral meeting on the “Save the Butuanon River” project was a good sign that at least the program will gain some national attention a full year ahead of Mandaue City’s hosting of the International River summit in November next year.
Dovetailing into that event is the Mandaue City government’s recent declaration of November as Butuanon River Month and November 22 as Butuanon River Day. So it was no small significance that Lopez’s pledge to help in the rehabilitation of the Butuanon River coincided nicely enough with renewed efforts by Mandaue City’s stakeholders to clean up the river.
Lopez’s previous experience with rehabilitating the Pasig River should prove instructional for Mandaue City’s stakeholders in cleaning up the river not just in time for the summit but beyond that when the visitors are long gone.
And right off the bat, Lopez’s proposal for the Butuanon River rehabilitation consisted of simply setting up so-called River Warriors or organizing settlers living near the river to monitor and help clean up the river of garbage and discharge that were disposed of not just by them but the companies operating near there.
Yes, while the households should shoulder their share of the blame for disposing their garbage into the river, it’s the companies placed under watch by the city-based committee tasked for that purpose that produce the most volume of garbage and pollutants that damage the river.
To be truthful, no one and nothing should be allowed to live near the river following the oft-repeated provision in the law that rivers and streams are part of the public domain that is beyond the commerce of man.
No thanks to previous administrations, settlers and businesses were allowed to set up homes and shops and dispose of their garbage anywhere they please with the consequences being pollution and flooding during the rainy season.
The Mandaue-based committee, comprised of city government officials and line agencies, is said to put pressure on these settlers and businesses to properly dispose of their garbage on pain of sanctions.
Aside from the Pasig River, the Mandaue City government had looked to Iloilo City’s Esplanade along the river as another model and inspiration in their Butuanon River rehabilitation project.
It’s about time Mandaue City Hall, the local business community and the nine barangays where the river runs through start the rehabilitation work in earnest.
We hope their efforts will bear fruit and that they and the succeeding generations sustain those efforts to care for the river.
Disclaimer: The comments uploaded on this site do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of management and owner of Cebudailynews. We reserve the right to exclude comments that we deem to be inconsistent with our editorial standards.
