River lessons
WHILE THE Iloilo River is not as grand as the Chao Phraya River in Thailand, there are similarities between the two bodies of water. Both navigable, they have become septic tanks for homes, industries and hotels in cities with sizes respectively proportional to their length and breadth. The 11-km Iloilo River, actually an arm of the sea, traverses 35 barangays with a total population of 53,830, serving as natural sewerage of the Iloilo City proper and the districts of Lapaz, Molo and Mandurriao. The same role is played by the Chao Phraya, which runs from north to south for 372 km from the central plains to Bangkok and the Gulf of Thailand, passing 10 cities.
The pollution problems besetting these two rivers gave rise to various efforts to restore their respective ecological balance. Here in Iloilo City, a rehabilitation program has been launched more than a decade ago but none has made inroads so far, except for the physical infrastructure built along the river, which is purely for aesthetic purposes. City residents, industries and businesses using the river as dumpsite of their wastes couldn’t just appreciate its value to the economic well-being of the city. Its tourism and business potentials can bring in much-needed revenues for the local government, as well as jobs for jobless residents.
Even now in its sorry-state, the Iloilo River still contribute to the city, what with the many restaurants banking on its gracefulness to attract customers. But as they continue to earn from the river, they contribute heavily to its continued deterioration, giving rise to health and environmental issues that have far-reaching effects.
In Thailand, a successful river appreciation program has been running since 1995, giving young and adults the opportunity to understand the life and the value of the mighty Chao Phraya River. Dubbed as the Magic Eyes Barge Program, participants spend 4-5 days aboard a 20-meter teak rice barge to investigate, discover and explore the different elements that comprise the river and the communities along it. The curriculum is a combination of topics that includes river ecology and water quality, community and natural resources, and Thai culture and history.
Back in December 2004, I had the opportunity to experience this program. The cruise starts with some sort of a “sight seeing” where we were tasked to record everything that contributes to the pollution of the river. This was followed by group discussions and some ice breakers. Early the next day, we explored a local market along the river in an attempt to find out how human activity affects its ecosystem. In the afternoon, we were taught about water quality and how to measure indicators like dissolved oxygen and biological oxygen demand, among others.
The core of the program centers on the “Compass of Sustainability” where participants are divided into four groups and tasked to investigate the sustainability of Koh Kret Island based on four indicators, each representing a point in the compass – Nature, Economy, Well-being of the individuals and Society. The compass is a family of tools used for framing, defining, assessing, and measuring progress towards sustainability. Koh Kret Island, the subject of the investigation, is in the middle of the river. It is actually a man-made island that was sliced from the mainland after a canal was built in 1722 in order to bypass a large bend in the river. The Thai king at that time was trying to save on sailing time for ships heading up to the then capital in Ayutthaya. The tide soon changed direction and the little canal became a raging river.
After spending time at the barge and on Koh Kret, the program is capped by two exciting sessions — Building the Pyramid and the Amoeba Game. The first is a very versatile group-process tool for capacity-building on sustainable development, collaborative planning for creating new initiatives, projects, visions, or strategies, and as a multi-stakeholder process for building consensus around a course of action. The second is a role-playing game used to analyze stakeholders’ responsibility in spreading ideas and how to avoid or neutralize the reactionary forces that make change difficult or impossible.
The Magic Eyes Barge Program started when Thai architect M. L. Tridhosyuth Devakul had a vision of creating a floating school that would provide the young people of Thailand with an experience that would both alert them to the problems facing the Chao Phraya River, and inspire them to act to improve and restore it to it previous ecological health. Through a collaboration with the Chewonki Foundation, a leading environmental education institution in the United States, he purchased and renovated a 20-meter teak rice barge, turning its empty hull into a floating living and learning laboratory and spearheading the launching of a highly innovative education program for Thailand.
Such a program is very much replicable here in Iloilo City. A number of our leaders had the same vision as Mr. Tridhosyuth and there had been various initiatives for the IIoilo River. When the late Roding Ganzon became mayor after the 1986 Edsa Revolution, he had proposed to turn the Iloilo River into a tourist area, where gondolas would cruise along it. This was followed by Senator Franklin Drilon, who championed the rehabilitation of the river, starting with infrastructure development. There are also a number of non-government organizations, science groups and academic institutions that would want to see the river restored to its former greatness which can be tapped for an endeavor like this.
The concern of people on the river was demonstrated in 2002, when they participated in a participatory planning that resulted to a master plan that divided the river into four stations and proposed interventions to rehabilitate it. Station 1, which starts from its mouth up to the Quirino Bridge, is dedicated for wharf development. Dredging was done years back to deepen necessary channels for the navigation of boats. Section 2 occupies the area from Quirino Bridge up to the Diversion Road Bridge, which is for park and recreational development. The area from the Diversion Road Bridge up to the Oton boundary, which are assigned as Sections 3 and 4, is for environmental rehabilitation.
The master plan, now under the Iloilo River Development Council, has many noble features but it has to be marketed socially to gain acceptance from all river stakeholders. One proof that it has not been accepted (Has it been disseminated?) is the fact that one hotel has recently erected an extension along the river, in a section dedicated for environmental rehabilitation and not for park and recreational development. Social marketing goes beyond information and communication campaigns focused on the mass media. It has to employ innovative approaches like the Magic Eyes Barge Program, where stakeholders understand the value of the river deeper after experiencing it.
As the Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu said, “I see, I forget; I hear, I remember; I do, I understand.”
By Nereo C. Lujan
Good day sir, this is such an inspiring move on your part. May your tribe increase sir.