Quiapo and Heritage Conservation
Celia M. Bonilla
Esteros also known as estuaries or inlets are important infrastructures because of their varied uses and impact on people’s lives.
According to national hero Jose Rizal, esteros were used for sewer purposes, bathing, laundry, fishing, and drinking. Timber from Montalban and Antipolo float freely from the Pasig into Estero de Trozo. Presently, esteros are catch basins for human refuse, garbage and manufacturing waste.
Alvina in “Arms of the Sea” (309) records 35 esteros measuring about 21 kms flowing into the Pasig River (Reynolds and Caballero 72). Some of them eventually disappeared due to land reclamation and other infrastructure and development projects. By the time John Back prepared the map of the city, esteros were no longer performing their original function and were reported to be heavily polluted.
Because of the deterioration and disappearance of some esteros, floods became frequent. According to older Quiapo residents, most floods occurred after 1963. The worst were before World War II until the 1950s usually due to poor street drainage.
Another concern that came with the floods was water quality. Flood water used to be cleaner, but nowadays, floods contain garbage and human refuse, along with insects and rodents. The situation worsened when informal settlers arrived in the 1980s. Because most of the houses and communities of the latter do not have proper sewage systems, wastes both biological and non-biological are thrown directly into Pasig River and nearby esteros.
The polluted waters became ideal breeding grounds for mosquitoes, roaches and rats. In addition, experts discovered that small pox and mosquito-caused diseases come from wastes found in water. High concentrations of biochemical oxygendeman (BDO) were also detected from Quiapo’s esteros.
CLEAN-UP TIME. A worker scoops up garbage from Quiapo’s esteros. File photo from EPA, ‘Danger Zones’.
To address water pollution and floods, a clean-up activity known as “Estero Blitz” by the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) was implemented. The program, which aims to declog all esteros to mitigate floods during the rainy season, was conducted from March 1 to May 6, 2017 (Bonilla, “750 truck"). The MMDA collected around 750 truckloads of garbage measuring 5,250 cubic meters from the metropolis. The said government agency conducted another clean-up operation in May of the same year, covering Estero de Galina in Manila, Makati and Pasay; Estero de San Miguel; Estero de Quiapo; Estero de Magdalena; Estero de Maypajo and Estero dela Reina; Lapu-Lapu in Malabon and Navotas City.
While efforts to declog waterways have started, the preceding paragraphs prove the loss of some of Quiapo’s esteros including the poor maintenance of those remaining have adverse effects on people’s lives and heritage. Reynaldo’s and Caballero’s article is timely in that it resurrects an old problem that deserves contemporary attention not only for Quiapo but for the rest of the country’s cities as well.
For a detailed discussion on Quaipo’s esteros, read Reynaldo and Caballero’s essay “The Changes Through Time in Quiapo’s Esteros” in Quiapo Heart of Manila, edited by Fernando Nakpil Zialcita and published by The Cultural Heritage Studies Program Department of Sociology and Anthropology Ateneo de Manila University and Metropolitan Museum of Manila.
Preview / Header Photo: ESTEROS in Manila used to look like this when the American city planner, Daniel Burnham, first saw them. Notice also the houseboats that once plied through what used to be water thoroughfares in Manila.
http://www.theurbanroamer.com/daniel-burnham/
WORKS CITED
Bonilla, Lordeth. (May 12, 2017). “750 truck ng basura kuha sa mga estero sa Metro Manila.” www.philstar.com:8080/psn-metro/2017/05/12/1699023/750-truck-ng-basura-kuha-sa-mga- estero-sa-metro-manila.
Burgonio, TJ. (June 26, 2013). “Squatters who return to esteros will be arrested.” newsinfo.inquirer.net/433595/squatters-who-return-to-esteros-will-be-arrested.
Reynolds,William E., Caballero, Evelyn J. “Revitalizing the City through Heritage.” Quiapo Heart of Manila. Ed. Fernando Nakpil Zialcita. Manila: The Cultural Heritage Studies Program Department of Sociology and Anthropology Ateneo de Manila University and Metropolitan Museum of Manila. 70-95.
Cleaning Up Quiapo’s Esteros
Mary Ann Majul | November 4, 2017