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ILOILO CITY – The Iloilo River receives untreated waste from no less than 100 of the 180 barangays of Iloilo City, revealed Mayor Jerry Treñas as he announced the holding of a “septage management dialogue” here to save the body of water.

The Iloilo River Development Council will conduct the dialogue today in line with the Iloilo River Week. It will be held at the Metro Iloilo Water District (MIWD) office on Bonifacio Drive.

THE Iloilo City government and the Metro Iloilo Water District (MIWD) will hold a forum today, June 23, in a bid to stem pollution at the Iloilo River.

Engr. Noel Hechanova, City Environment and Natural Resources officer, said the Septage Management forum and dialogue will be conducted at the MIWD office.

MANILA, Philippines—Five species of Philippine frogs were found infected with a deadly fungus that could lead to their extinction, Environment Secretary Lito Atienza said Wednesday.

The discovery of the chytrid fungus (Batrachochytrium Dendrobatidis) in the frogs was alarming because it could lead to an “imbalance in the ecosystem” if the amphibians are wiped out, Atienza told reporters in a press conference Wednesday.

WATER may determine the future of Asia. It may even turn crimson red, if the 700 million people in one of the world’s largest group of islands floating on a body of water continue to go thirsty.

This is the flow of thought of pundits and former government leaders of Asia Society in its report on water.

THE Iloilo City government can be sued and compelled to clear the banks of Iloilo River of illegal structures and obstructions.

Atty. Dennis Ventilacion cited the successful mandamus case filed against the Manila City government which demanded the immediate clean up of the Manila Bay.

AN environment official warned the Iloilo City government to check unbridled developments on the banks of the Iloilo River to prevent pollution and flooding.
Engr. Edwin Domingo, assistant director of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) under the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, said they noticed that many buildings and land developments are sprouting on the river banks.

Despite observations worldwide showing a significant increase in global temperature, developing countries, like the Philippines, are bearing the brunt of high costs of climate change and the majority of Filipinos seem to remain complacent about it.

Dr. Leoncio Amadore, former director of the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa), said unless the government takes urgent action to address climate change, socioeconomic and environmental problems, like in agriculture, food security and health, in the country would be adversely affected.

MANILA, Philippines—Some 50 cities around the Philippines have pledged to support Earth Hour on March 28—a Saturday—by shutting off electricity for one hour, an environmental group said Wednesday.

Greenpeace campaign manager Yeb Saño also said they are targeting saving 100 megawatts of electricity during the shutdown.

“We are hoping to surpass last year’s 80 megawatts that was saved and we hope to involve around 10 million Filipinos. We believe all these are very doable,” he told the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

COPENHAGEN — Being a climate scientist these days is not for the faint of heart.

Arguably no other area of research yields a sharper contrast between a steady stream of “eureka!” moments, and the sometimes terrifying implications of those discoveries for the future of the planet.

“Science is exciting when you make such findings,” said Konrad Steffen, who heads the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) in Boulder, Colorado.

COPENHAGEN, Denmark—The warnings had been given before—that low-lying areas, especially in archipelagos like the Philippines, are at risk of being swamped by rising levels of seawater as a result of global warming. This week, though, as 2,000 scientists gathered for a climate-change conference, the warnings have taken on a more urgent tone, as they focused on the much-faster rate of the melting of polar ice caps.

With much of the region already below sea level, even a small rise would be devastating for the low-lying areas in Asia, including the Philippines, according to a new study presented here by an Australian scientist.

IN AUGUST 2007, Rep. Raul T. Gonzales Jr. filed House Bill No. 1338 which seeks to create the Iloilo River and Muelle Loney Development Authority. Under the bill, the authory will be tasked, among others, to prepare and design an integrated, complementary and coordinated phase by phase development program of the Iloilo River and it inland harbor at Muelle Loney in order to support existing national development policies. The bill has since been referred to the House Committee on Government Enterprises and Privatization for its consideration and action.

COMPLETED in 2003, the Iloilo River Development Master Plan blueprints the rehabilitation, improvement and sustainability agenda proposed for the Iloilo River by the Iloilo City Government in partnership with the Iloilo Business Club, the Asia Foundation and the United States Assistance for Environmental Programs.

DONE in 2006 by Pamela Gerrez V. Tañeza and Paul Philp of the University of Oklahoma’s School of Geology and Geophysics, this study investigates the occurrence, distribution, concentration and potential sources of polycylic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) at the Iloilo River using geochemical techniques. PAHs are ubiquitous environmental pollutants that have received special attention due to their highly mutagenic and carcinogenic properties.

DONE in 2004 by Herminia Francisco and Jessica Salas, this paper analyzes the presence or absence of elements needed to have an effective system of watershed management in the Maasin Watershed, Iloilo Province. It concluded that: a) both the legal and institutional structures needed to support watershed management effort are in place; b) there is evidence of a strong social capital existing in the upland and lowland communities; c) there is an adequate level of technical capital investment to sustainably manage the watershed; and d) there is sufficient financial resources to undertake various site development initiatives.

WE thought we can now move on to other topics after we wrote our last piece on the Iloilo River on March 13, 2009, but now we received additional information on the river issue in a long letter from our City Environment and Natural Resources Officer (CENRO), Noel Z. Hechanova.

On our part, with regard to cleaning and conserving the Iloilo River, we recommend that the kapitanes of the barangays along the river banks can lead the way.

By Imelda V. Abaño, Business Mirror
THERE is mounting evidence that climate-related disaster events are having an impact on developing countries in Southeast Asia, home to more than 570 million people. While researchers and scientists reveal that climate change is set to reverse decades of social and economic progress, the international climate change spotlight has not yet fallen on Southeast Asia as attention is focused more on the industrializing giants China, India and Brazil.

Multiple stresses make most of Southeast Asian countries highly vulnerable to environmental changes, and climate change is likely to increase this vulnerability. These impacts include drought, sea-level rise, cyclones, desertification, deforestation, forest degradation, coral bleaching, the spread of diseases and impacts on food security.

By Imelda V. Abaño, Business Mirror
LAST year the world saw significant progress in its goal of developing secure, affordable and clean energy, and tackling the threat of global warming. World leaders believe that 2009 will be a crucial year when it comes to negotiating a meaningful, binding climate-change deal in Copenhagen this December, which is meant to find a successor to the Kyoto Protocol on global emission levels.

Climate change has risen to its highest ever position on the global political agenda, and pressure is building for governments to set the parameters for negotiating a post-2012 climate-change agreement. The post-2012 framework will set global incentives for transition to a low-carbon economy for the next 20 years.

By Gloria Ramos, Cebu Daily News
On February 10, my cell phone was bombarded with text messages from relatives and friends: “Breaking news on TV – watch 300 dolphins stranded at Bataan!”

The delightful dolphins, called melon-headed whales, were real scene-stealers. The news was everywhere – in print, television, radio and Internet. International news agencies like British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) picked it up.

Why do hundreds of dolphins “beach” themselves? Our old folks would say the dolphins are trying to tell us something. Was the rare occurrence related to the earthquake that rocked Indonesia the day after? Who knows?

Friday the 13th just got a little scarier. Here are 13 facts about the realities of global warming. Even Jason would be scared.

The numbers speak for themselves — we must make 2009 the showdown year for global warming action. There is no time to lose.

By Gloria Ramos, Cebu Daily News
Watch out! As envisioned, 2009 is an “Action Year” to turn around the growing tide of public indifference and bureaucratic inefficiency that have made this megadiversity country merit the shameful distinction as the “hottest of the hot spots” in species and habitat loss and destruction. A green and potent brew is being concocted not just by the country’s best legal minds that have the golden heart for our home planet, but also by our icons in the scientific community and the leading lights in the nation’s environmental movement.

By Mozart Pastrano, Philippine Daily Inquirer
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY—We were rediscovering the river in our midst, until the recent violent turn of the tides gave us reason to pause.

Over the past three years, not just one but two floating restaurants have wooed adventurous diners. River taxis, which can be booked through the Safer River, Life Saver Foundation at the Liceo de Cagayan University, offered breathtaking, 45-minute tours from behind the San Agustin Cathedral to the mouth of the Macajalar Bay and back.

HAPPY New Year!

For those who make it a habit to draw up New Year’s resolutions, you can add adopting a more environment-friendly lifestyle to your list. Helping protect and conserve nature will not only secure our future but also that of our children and grandchildren.

JUST as a footprint is simply a mark or an impression left by a foot, all our human activities leave marks on our planet. Unfortunately, most of the human activities over the last 50 years have negative effects on the environment, particularly the buildup of carbon dioxide or carbon emissions which is the main cause of global warming. This mark that we leave is referred to as our carbon footprint.

What is carbon footprint?

It is the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions that each individual, organization or community produces or uses.

PLANNING offices are regular features of provinces, cities and municipalities in the Philippines. These offices are mandated to chart the growth of their respective local governments and at the same time provide contingencies during crisis. But there are development issues that straddle across boundaries, giving birth to regional planning to effectively address concerns that are not exclusive to one local government. Regional planning has thus become a venue for sharing ideas, resources and actions so common problems can be attended to collectively.

However, recent environmental phenomena caused by climate change – like the flood that hit Iloilo City and neighboring municipalities – showed that regional planning may not just be enough to manage growth. In this era where the environment directs what development path communities should take, there is a need to look beyond political regions and start acknowledging that we don’t just live in cities, municipalities and provinces but also in watersheds, ecosystems and ecoregions.

THE ILOILO RIVER is located between N 10°41’30” –N10°42’30” Latitude and E 122°32’00” – 122°35’00” Longitude. Iloilo River flows from west to east, with an estimated specific sediment discharge rate of 8.0 cubic meter per year per square kilometer, and a catchment area of 93.1 square kilometer.

THE outbreak of World War II signaled the end of the feverish commercial activity in the Port of Iloilo. Consequently, it also marked the death of Iloilo as the “Queen City of the South”. The Japanese destroyed a sizable portion of the commercial section of the city and a large chunk of the Iloilo harbor. Thus, by the end of the war, Iloilo City was almost reduced to ashes and its pier became a ghost frontier.

IN THE 1920s, based on the 1927 Iloilo Telephone Directory and other printed materials at that time, many commercial establishments at the pier and even on the shorter side streets of the city advertised themselves. In Muelle Loney, the leading firms were the Compania General de Tabacos de Filipinas, Lizarraga Hermanos, Koppel Industrial Car & Equipment Co., Pacific Commercial Co., Warner Barnes & Co. Ltd., Smith Bell & Co. Ltd., Sing Joco & Co., and the Visayan General Supply Co. Inc. They were either Spanish, Chinese or European-owned.

WHEN THE Americans took over the governance of the Philippines, the first major improvement done in Iloilo was with the port in the Iloilo River because of its leading importance in Philippine economic activities at that time.

THE OPENING of the Port of Iloilo along Iloilo River in 1855 not only resulted in the expansion of trading activities and increase in population in the town of Iloilo but also led to the development of the sugar industry. The Iloilo River provided for a safe entry point and storage for sugar which were subsequently loaded on ocean-going vessels bound for other countries.

LONG BEFORE the coming fo the Spaniards to the Philippines, Iloilo River was already noted to be a busy artery of commerce to the towns of Molo and Jaro. This will explain why when the colonizers came to Iloilo, they already found a considerable number of Chinese residing in Molo and a thriving settlement in Jaro which, in early times, was known as Salog. The river was also a rich fishing ground for fishermen who had started putting up huts along its banks.

The damage wrought by Typhoon Frank to the Tigum Bridge in Cabatuan showed how enterprising Filipinos, or the Ilonggos in particular, are. Residents in the area developed their own version of a Roll-on, Roll-Off facility to ferry motorcycles across the river. The rate is PhP 20.00 per motorcycle.

HERE are photos of the destruction caused by Typhoon Frank on two bridges in Cabatuan, Iloilo. The Tigum bridge in Barangay Tabucan, Cabatuan is the gateway to this town 21 km west of Iloilo City, while the Imelda Marcos Bridge in Barangay Amerang of the same town serves as its link to Maasin town.

RIVER fishermen call them danlak, Hiligaynon for slimy. I don’t know what they are but they rise from the grounds along the bank of the Iloilo River at the Sooc-Navais area. They appear to be like jellyfish or some sort of oil as they don’t mix with water. I believe they come from waste, having noticed piles of garbage nearby.

PULO actually means island but when we hear the word pulo, what comes to our mind is an islet, or a small island. Unknown to many, considering that it is hidden from the busy parts of the city, there is a pulo at the Iloilo River.

THIS photo of the Iloilo River Wharf, circa 1920-1930, forms part of the Wisconsin Philippine Images Collection of the University of Wisconsin, but the rights to the photo belongs to the US National Archives.

1922 photo showing structures along the Iloilo River Wharf that includes the Iloilo Customs House, warehouses and nipa huts. It also shows sailing ships and three men in a small vessel in the midground.

Satellite image of Iloilo City showing the meandering Iloilo River obtained from GoogleMaps

OLD postcard, circa 1900-1920, showing houses along the Iloilo River

GMA News and Public Affairs produced the first Philippine documentary on climate change titled Signos: Banta ng Nagbabagong Klima. The documentary is narrated by actor Richard Gutierrez who is an active environmentalist and Greenpeace advocate. The documentary premiered on April 20, 2008.

THIS video is based on a classic article by Donella Meadows, and interprets the world
as though it were a village of just one hundred people.

THE board of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) has approved a multi-billion-peso project that will improve water quality at the Pasig River, reduce health risks and enhance ferry transportation operations in the area.

MANILA, Philippines – “Pretty Pasig, pretty river. Wear your best bouquets. Happy morning, dawning, give her all your brightest rays….” goes a rhyme that Dr. Jose Rizal wrote for a play titled “Along the Pasig.”