Sunday, April 13, 2008 Villagers ask ADCL, civil society to save river
CITY OF SAN FERNANDO -- Residents of an industrial village which plays host to a throng of factories and commercial manufacturing establishments here is calling for the help of the Advocacy for the Development of Central Luzon (ADCL) and other influential civil society groups and to help save and rehabilitate the condition of a river here.
Residents of Barangay Del Rosario have been complaining about the foul smell coming from their river that, they said, had been polluted by the wastes coming from industrial establishments.
They said the support of the ADCL and other civil society groups will be needed to save the waterway from further degradation.
The Del Rosario River, which forms part of a greater water system stretching from Angeles City to downtown San Fernando through Barangay Magliman, is now in a state of utter neglect as the once pristine water has degenerated into a murky black waterway.
Rolando Manalili, a 34-year-old resident of the village, said a couple of years back they used to bathe in the brook while tending to their carabaos.
"When these factories came here they began to spew their waste in the brook, it was no big deal then because they throw in their waste at night. But now the water had turned black and other wastes from Angeles City have found their way through the brook," Manalili said.
Residents also complain that the wastes in the river emit pungent and intoxicating smell that keep them awake at night.
The brook, it was learned, was being used for irrigating lands in the area but farmers here have resorted to other means of irrigation after the brook had turned useless.
"We have tried to bring this up with higher authorities but our pleas have fallen on deaf ears, we would ask advocacy organizations if they could look into our problem and help us," one official of the barangay here who refused to be named said, adding that the ADCL with its influence on the provincial and city level could rally attention to the dying river.
"The river needs help, it is surprising that the city does not look into this since the water from the river flows to San Fernando," the barangay official said.
"There was a time when we could catch fish in this river, now what we could only get is a headache," another resident said. (IOF)
