Baclaran Creek: Ugly Stain on the Philippines' Tourism Image
Posted on Wednesday, 2 December 2015
Baclaran
Creek: Ugly Stain on the Philippines’
Tourism
Image
by Apolinario Villalobos
Nothing can be one hundred percent clean,
sanitized, germ-free, well-kept, etc., to show a pleasant image. But in exerting
an effort for such end-result, consistency should be exercised, as failure to
do so could be tantamount to being negligent.
Among the ugliest manifestation of the
Philippine government’s negligence and inconsistency is the creek at Baclaran
which is fringing the northern edge of the purported “business-tourism
showcase” of Metro Manila - the cornucopia of condominium buildings, malls,
office buildings and the supposedly biggest casino in Asia. Practically, the
creek that serves as the catch basin-cum-open drainage of Pasay and Paraἧaque
that flows out to the Manila Bay, shows it all. How can the Department of
Tourism proudly declare that Manila is a clean city with the obnoxious filth
floating on the stagnant creek in all its obnoxious glory greeting the arriving
tourists from the airport on their way to their hotels along Roxas Boulevard? Is
this progress as what the Philippine president always mumbles? How can such a
short strip of open drainage not be cleaned on a daily basis, just like what
street sweepers do to the entire extent of the Roxas Boulevard?
It has been observed that every time a
government agency’s attention is called for not doing its job well, it cries
out such old lines, as “lack of budget” and “lack of personnel”. But why can’t
they include such requirements every time they submit their proposed budget? In
the meantime, as regards the issue on the maintenance of the city waterways,
national and local agencies throw blames at each other, trying to outdo each
other in keeping their hands clean of irresponsibility and negligence!
During the APEC conference which caused the
“temporary” bankruptcy of commercial establishments in Pasay and Paraἧaque,
as well as, local airlines and lowly vendors by the millions of pesos, the
creek was almost “immaculately” clean with all the floating scum scooped up and
thrown somewhere else. But as soon as the delegates have left, the poor creek
is back to its old self again – gagged with the city denizens’ filth and refuse.
Viewing the Baclaran creek is like viewing
the rest of the waterways around Metro Manila, including Pasig River, as they are
all equally the same filthy picture of neglect, irresponsibility and
inconsistency of government concern! One should see the nearby creek at Pasay
where the Pumping Station is located, with an “island” that practically
developed out of silt, garbage and clumps of water lily! Some days, the short
length of artificial creek is skimmed with filth to make it look clean, but
most days, it is neglected.
In view of all the above-mentioned, why
can’t the national and local government agencies concerned co-operate and do
the following?
·
REQUIRE the daily cleaning of
the creek by assigning permanent “brigades”, just like what they do for the
streets. If there are “street sweepers”, why can’t there be “creek scoopers”
and “dredgers”?
·
REQUIRE the vendors with stalls
along or near the creeks to maintain the cleanliness of their respective
periphery so that they are obliged to call the attention of irresponsible
pedestrians who do not show concern. Each stall must be required to have a
garbage bag or bin, as well as, broom and dust pan. Their negligence in
carrying out such obligation should be made as a basis in revoking their hawker’s
permit.
·
REQUIRE government employees
with sanitation responsibilities TO GO OUT OF THEIR OFFICES AND DO THEIR JOB,
and not just make reports to the City Administrators based on what street
sweepers tell them.
·
DREDGE the creek regularly on a
yearly basis, not only when flooding occurs during the rainy season, which is a
very repugnant reactionary show of concern on the part of the government. The
yearly dredging of the waterways would eventually “deepen” them to accommodate
more surface water during the rainy season, and even bring their bed back to
their former level.
The costly effort of the national
government in putting on a pleasant “face” for Manila every time there is an
international event, as what happened during the APEC conference, may elicit sympathy
and grudgingly executed cooperation, but there should be consistency in
it….otherwise, it would just be like sweeping the house, only when visitors are
expected, or worse, sweeping the dirt to a corner to hide them.
Cooperation between the government
authorities and the citizens is necessary. However, as there is a clear
indication that the concerned citizens, such as vendors and pedestrians, lack
discipline, the government should take necessary steps in imposing measures to
ensure their cooperation, albeit by coercion, so that whatever sanitation
projects may have been initiated can be consistently maintained, for the
benefit of all.
If littering on the ground can be
prohibited with appropriate penalty, why can’t the same be done for the sake of
the waterways? If ever local government units have passed such measures why
can’t they be imposed authoritatively and consistently?
Discussion