Cruisin' Pasig River

Had the chance to finally take the Pasig River Ferry cruise on April 26. I took the tour with my girl friend and board the 715am ferry at Guadalupe Station to Plaza Mexico Station in Intramuros.

As the ferry began to sail, my girl friend and I went out to the deck with our cameras in tow. We were greeted by the terrible stench of the river. We didn't mind it as we were so excited having taken this cruise. We were deeply saddened by the blackish water and the floating trash. We wondered if there will be a living thing that can survive these polluted waters.

We took pictures of the sights along the river banks to our heart's delight. We gamely waved to the people on the other boats and those working on the river bank. We did not mind the heat of the mid-morning sun as we continue to watch from the ferry's deck.

When we approached the portion nearing Malacanang Palace, we went inside and stopped photographing. For security reasons, phototaking of Malacanang Palace and its surroundings is prohibited. Across Malacanang palace is the Malacanang Park where some Presidential Security Group staff were stationed.

We passed underneath several bridges notably Quezon , McArthur and Jones' bridges.



We got off at Plaza Mexico in Intramuros. We had a walking tour of Fort Santiago and Intramuros .


We returned to this station to catch the 1115am trip back to Guadalupe Station and met Mang Manny. He is a tour guide and has facilitated many tours of the river. He has high hopes that the dredging, cleaning , beautification and relocation of illegal dwellers will bring back the glory of the river. I promised to mention him in my blog.

Here are brief facts I gathered and photos i took. Hope you enjoy them. Lastly, I encourage friends and readers of this blog to support any endeavor to revive Pasig River.Let's join this effort.

*Pasig River (from PRRC brochure)

• 27 km stretch from Manila Bay to Laguna de Bai

• 13 bridges crossing the river; with the completion of Estrella Bridge near Rockwell, it will be 14 bridges
• the 19 km stretch is 3 meters deep, 40 meters wide (dredging to 6 meters and widen to 60 meters)

*Landmarks we saw

• Power Plant Mall and Rockwell Business Center Buildings
• Makati City Hall
• Oil Depots
• Malacanang Palace
• National Post Office
• Hospicio de San Jose
• Polytechnic University of the Phils
• Napindan Flood Control ( we did not see)

*Pasig River Ferry Service (from PRRC brochure)

• 10 ferry stations and 5 satellite stations
• 6 ferry boats-fully air conditioned twin hulled catamaran type
• 150 seating capacity, with flat screen TV, separate toilets for male and female;life jackets
• trip schedules: 7am and last trip is 430pm, Monday thru Saturdays
• fare: from Php25 to Php60; Php20 flat rate for students
• travel time: 1 hr (from Plaza Mexico to Guadalupe); 2 hours (end to end)
• can bring food aboard the ferry

*Rehabilitation Efforts

• on going dredging project of the Pasig River Rehabilitation Commission
• PRRC partnered with ABS CBN Foundation on a 7 year project to clean the river
• resettling of the informal dwellers
• implementation of estero clean up