WE READ from a national daily that the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority or MMDA, in order to reduce traffic in the metropolis, is again launching the ferry service which winds down from Pasig City to downtown in the City of Manila.
When we were in Makati in 2O14, we tried taking the ferry service at the Pasig because we are told that the boat trip can bring one faster to downtown Manila rather than taking a jeepney or bus. Besides, we wanted to have a good view of the Pasig River as it winds down to the different districts of Metro Manila.
The trip we took started from the Guadalupe Station in Makati near the bridge at EDSA and up to the foot of Jones Bridge in Escolta, Manila.
While it saved us some time to reach downtown Escolta in Manila, there were actually three occasions when our boat stopped, one of them right behind Malacañang Palace, when a crew member went down on the river bed to remove the water lilies and basura” that got stuck on the propellers.
Another factor that can cause further delay are the barges that go upstream up to Pasig City to pick up cargo. There is also the danger of colliding with these cargo barges especially at the river curves as there are times when several of them are joined and pulled together by a motor boat.
The river ferry service stopped apparently for lack of public support and it was taken over by MMDA the following year but it did not also last long.
Now that the ferry is being restored, we wish that the safety factor due to river traffic must not be overlooked by the MMDA.
Iloilo is also a river city. Shall we likewise introduce ferry service?
We wrote a series of articles on the Iloilo River in Panay News from 2OO9 through 2O14, which we later compiled into a book with the title, “Our River and Land in the City”. We mentioned on page 65 thereof of the Gold Award that Iloilo won in the 2O1O International Awards for Livable Communities or LivCom held in Chicago, Illinois, USA, because of our clean river body.
To encourage our people to maintain the cleanliness of the Iloilo River and to show our continuing pride of the singular award, why don’t we put up all along our river banks in the city a sign commemorating the international award at strategic places of our river and at the same time putting a reason to remind our people to keep our river clean. How come we do not seem to have a sign or marker for such an honor or award for our city which has not been duplicated by any other Asian city since then.
We are proud of the award for our river body, and we would rather maintain our river as is. No ferry service please.
Merry Christmas!
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Idioms for the Enlightened Mind
“The term Movers and Shakers are people in power who take an active part in making things happen.”
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