Estero de Paco: Life Along the Pasig River - Manila, Philippines
This is a photo-documentary about an estero, and the people who are living along its banks. This is the story of Estero de Paco, the dirtiest, most polluted, and garbage-laden esteros among all the creeks that flow directly to the Pasig River, Manila, Phillipines.I have observed that the water of the Estero de Paco is slimy, thick, and dark-colored, with 307 tons of solid waste floating garbage of all kinds (plastic materials, household wastes), animal carcasses, and human feces. The garbage in the river has become so thick that rats are able to run on top of it--chased by cats. The river and its surrounding areas has a very hideous odor.The people who live along the river are responsible for the filthy pollution. Everyday tons of garbage from households are dumped into the river. The river has become a garbage dump. Most of these families are very poor. Many of them live in squalor, their shanties made of light plywood materials and rusted tin roofs. Most homes have very small living spaces that do not have proper sleeping quarters and toilets. The river underneath their houses has become the toilet. Many of their children do not go to school, and the parents have no permanent jobs or already lost jobs.
---The Estero de Paco is just one of the thousands of polluted rivers in the Phillipines. My only wish is to have my photos expose the sad realities of modernization and urbanization. I also hope that this will contribute in a little way to a more active environmental awareness in all of us.
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The Estero de Paco near the Paco Public Market (The building at left is the Paco Catholic Church located on the left side of the Pasig River ... along Trece de Agosto Street on the North and along the estero on the South of the present site of Paco Catholic )



