To continue improving the state of the Pasig River, ABS-CBN Foundation Inc. will hold its biggest fundraising project, the Philippine International Marathon 2009.

To be held on November 8, 2009, “A Run for the Pasig River,” aims to collect P10 million from registration fees of runners to corporate sponsors.

According to Gina Lopez, managing director of AFI, the amount will be used to support the rehabilitation of the river banks as well as the relocation of families squatting along the banks of the river as well as its tributaries.

"The goal is to get 20,000 participants," race director Rudy Biscocho said. He also explained the categories and the route of the race.

Biscocho added that the race will start at kilometer 0 in Roxas Boulevard, more popularly known as Rizal Park, as early as 4:30 a.m.

The race is divided into four categories: 3k for children, 5k, 10k, and 42k for professional and amateur runners. Runners as young as 6 years old are encouraged to join the race. The number corresponds to number of kilometers runners belonging to each category are supposed to run.

The 42k route is for a group composed of 20 members, Biscocho explained, and will either be ran as a full marathon or as a relay. For relays, the first 9 pairs will run for 2km each and the last pair will have to run for 4km.
Further, the 42k route traverses 4 cities in Metro Manila: Manila, Taguig, Mandaluyong, and Pasig, and cross 8 bridges that are on Ilog Pasig.

"We want to make running the flavor of the year," Lopez said during the press conference. "Aside from getting in shape, we are encouraging everyone to run for a cause."

Registration costs P250 per runner and P5,000 for groups.
 
Creating a miracle

Cleaning Pasig River is a herculean task, says Lopez. Numerous clean-up programs have been done in the past to save the river.

Last March, AFI joined hands with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to clean-up Pasig, which is now considered a dead river, in the next 7 years.

The group targets to raise the Pasig water class to Class B and the esteros to Class C. Class B waters are safe for swimming, while Class C waters allows schools of fish and other water creatures to thrive.

Lopez explained that in order to raise the water class to C, the results of the MilliPore Nutrient (MPN) test for the water should indicate total coliform count of no more than 5,000. The group is currently working and hoping to create a miracle in the Estero de Paco area, which has 1.6 million MPN.

"The Estero de Paco is literally an open sewer so the river becomes the septic tank, not just of the illegal settlers, but of the whole Manila area."

Unfortunately, Lopez added that Manila itself was "designed to ruin the river" as the sewerage system does not filter the water from the inhabitant's houses and lets it out directly to the river.

Since the collaboration, water utility groups like Maynilad and Manila Water have been tapped to help in the program. "We are working with Maynilad and Manila Water on this problem. They are planning to put up intercepters to redirect the water from Pasig," she said.

Likewise, the group has started relocating families from the shanties along the river to homes in Montalban, Rizal and Calauan, Laguna. Thirty families are being relocated every month and since the start of the clean-up program, around 400 families have been relocated and given their own homes.

Donations via mobile phones

Aside from the race, Lopez encouraged Filipinos to give a portion of their mobile phone credits to clean the river. Texters can donate to the cause by typing GIVE<space>ILOG and sending it to 2366.

"In Manila, 12 million people have cellphones, if these 12 million [will send} text [messages] once a month, we will have 10 million pesos for the river," Lopez said. "If we succesfully transform the river, we are transforming the city, and then eventually transform the people."
 
To learn more about the effort to rehabilitate the Pasig river, log-on to ilogmoipatrolmo.multiply.com.