TRAVELS (and more) WITH CECILIA BRAINARD: CLEAN UP RIVERS, CREEKS, CANALS IN OLD CEBU!

The recent January Sinulog festival in Cebu City drew approximately a million people. That's a lot of people. There were quite a lot of foreigners - Europeans, Americans, balikbayans. The city was packed with people.

Anyway, one day during the Sinulog week, I walked down Logarta Street in Historic Cebu, and I saw a foreigner, a young man, gawking at the creek or canal under the historic bridge there. I forget the historic designation of this particular bridge, but there is a plaque beside it that Mayor Tommy Osmena put up a number of years ago.

To my great embarrassment, this foreign young man looked with horror at the filth in the canal; and indeed it was dirty. It had every bit of imaginable filth in there - plastic, paper, dead things, no doubt excrement from the slum houses that jut out over the canals. Really, I was filled with such shame. I have been very enthusiastic about the gentrifying of historic Old Cebu, and have lauded the efforts of the Aboitizes with their work in Casa Gorordo Museum and RAFI, and the tireless enthusiasm and creativity of Val Sandiego; and the Cathedral Museum people are also doing their share. In fact the Cathedral is sprucing up the church, sidewalks, and lot in front of the church. There is so much improvement going on, and I've been so proud of it, but my stomach churned when I saw the expression of disgust on this foreigner's face, and frankly the canal was repulsive. You could have caught every disease on earth if you fell in it. Such filth near human beings is not sanitary. Even animals know to defecate and urinate far away from where they sleep. I've heard of cases of dengue in Cebu - haven't people considered that dirty places such as these rivers and canals just may be responsible?

I mentioned Cebu's dirty rivers, creeks, and canals to some people. The answer I got was that the dirt is coming from higher areas, not just from the downtown Cebu. I'm not sure about this, because I can see that the rickety houses with makeshift rooms hanging over the creeks are probably using these creeks as their toilets. They do not think twice about throwing garbage into these creeks, or on the streets for that matter.

Cebu officials ought to do something about this problem. It's one thing to be poor, another to be dirty. One can be poor and clean. It is inexcusable, unpardonable to be dirty. In fact it is unsanitary to the point of risking the lives of children when such filth is right under people's noses. Germs live there; germs cause diseases.

For starters, is it not possible for someone to rake the floating debris off the water? Even that effort could make the creeks look 80% better. If Cebu has street sweepers, how about canal cleaners?

And if the debris is coming from higher areas, can't the people who live there, as well as those who live downtown, be educated about cleaning our rivers and creeks?

In 2000, Manila decided to clean up the equally filthy Pasig River. I remember that the Pasig River used to be so dirty, no fish lived in it. It was covered with plant life, which meant the river itself was dead. Well, Manila got a financial assistance package of $176 million, approved by the Asian Development Bank. I can say that the program definitely worked. I have taken the ferry down the Pasig and have seen fish in the Pasig. The river is for the most part sparkling clean. There are slogans painted on walls, constant reminders that the river is our life. Click here to read about the clean-up program of Pasig.

I say that if the Pasig River could be cleaned up, the rivers and creeks of Cebu can also be cleaned up. But we need government involvement, and we need public participation. We need education, a heightened consciousness that there is a problem, and that each one can do something to solve the problem.

I understand there is now a cleanup program for the Guadalupe River (click here to read article City Uses Korean model for river rescue plan); why don't we extend that cleanup program to include the downtown creeks? If Korea cleaned up their river in three years and turned it into a major attraction for locals and tourists, so can Cebu.

Water is vital to life. I hope that the people of Cebu, whether they be in the government or private sector pay attention to this problem. Maybe City officials who are now starting to see the tourist potential of Historic Cebu can do something to clean up our rivers, creeks, and canals. It's not just about tourism; it's basic hygiene. These rivers, creeks, canals are serious health hazards. Imagine where the water from these rivers, creeks canals go - straight to the sea; imagine fish and other living things in that sea bombarded by all that filth; imagine our fishermen catching fish from that sea; imagine that same fish on your dining table. It's just all a cycle.

I'm posting some clean canals in other places: Bangkok, Amsterdam,Venice, Norway, and yes the Pasig. They are clean, they are tourist spots. If they can have clean rivers and creeks, so can Cebu.