SOME two weeks ago, the National Geographic used a short clip showing a waste-filled stream flowing from the Pasig River as an “example of just how much trash makes it into the ocean.”
And among those who were alarmed – nearly 400,000 people have viewed it on Facebook alone – by the effect of our country’s plastic use was popular vlogger Wil Dasovich.
He was so moved by it that it convinced him that he needs to do something to at least remind people of the importance of taking care of the environment, and that the river is not beyond saving.
His idea was to prank his American childhood friend and her buddy by getting them to swim in it, as a way to highlight just how polluted it is. He was banking that the foul smell or the dead marine life floating around would turn them off the idea.
The opposite happened and his friends actually had a good time jumping into the Pasig River with him and the kids who happen to be swimming in it while they were filming.
“Hindi man lang nila napansin na ang baho, ang dumi. They’re just having fun,” he said of his failed prank.
Nevertheless, it still did its job as the comments are filled with his fans agreeing that action is needed to help clean up the once beautiful Pasig River, but now considered “biologically dead.”
“It could become that again if we all just do our part,” Dasovich claimed. “One of the biggest issues in the Philippines is definitely its human impact on the environment.”
“It’s easy to blame the government or private sectors, but at the end of the day it really comes down to us. And without discipline, there won’t be progress.”
His video has been viewed more than 200,000 times on YouTube after four days. (ABS-CBN News)
