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Exhibit hosted by FEATI University puts Pasig River in the spotlight
The Pasig River has always been a prominent feature of the city of Manila. It also flows alongside FEATI University’s just a few hundred meters before emptying into Manila Bay. Co-presented by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, National Committee on Architecture and Allied Arts and the UP College of Architecture Foundation for the Built Environment, Inc., a month-long exhibit hosted by FEATI University at the fourth floor lobby of Building 1 trains the spotlight on the famous river. "Manila and the River that Runs Through It," showcases the many facets and evolutions of the Pasig River throughout the years.
For the whole of February, glimpses of the dynamic trading activities and the vital role of the Pasig River in the domestic activities of Filipinos starting from the Hispanic era to the 1900’s are captured. Images such as a man atop his pony wading in a part of the river, womenfolk doing their laundry by the riverside and small boats ferrying their goods via the Pasig River trading route are nostalgically captured in black and white.
In the exhibitors’ note, “the exhibition underscores the importance of the Pasig River’s existence in Manila’s urban and architectural development and how its water has influenced the city’s people, commerce and culture.”
The current state of the 25-kilometer long body of water that bisects Metro Manila into north and south and connects Manila Bay with Laguna de Bay has been the recent subject of dismay and even protest due mainly to blatant abuse and neglect that it has suffered in our hands. Indeed, the river is currently considered biologically dead, unable to sustain life due to the accumulated effects of “deposits” of domestic and industrial wastes.
However, it continues to play some of its vital functions. “Its dynamism may have waned, as a place for trading activities, but it still remains an important route for marine vehicles entering inland Manila. La Quinta [market] still remains a trading place, as it was during the pre-Hispanic, Hispanic and the American periods,” says Arch. Joy B. Mananghaya, Dean of the University’s College of Architecture. Arch. Mananghaya is currently leading an urban renewal cum research effort on Carlos Palanca street, which roughly parallels the river as it passes Quinta market.
The exhibit is one of the many ways in which FEATI University underscores its own efforts at the revitalization and rehabilitation of the river and its surroundings. As action towards reversing the current dismal state of the river and its immediate surroundings urgently needs to be done, “FEATI University has been working towards the urban redevelopment and rehabilitation of its surroundings, with the aim of improving the quality of life of the people living in it. We have been convening stakeholders in the neighborhood to work towards this same goal. The College, in particular, has been completing projects related to the rehabilitation of this very old neighborhood,” says Arch. Mananghaya. For the Pasig River, FEATI University has been spearheading efforts by the University Belt Consortium to obtain scientific and technical bases for its rehabilitation. (KAL)
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