The Pasig River as well as 18 other rivers in the Philippines were identified as among the top 50 polluting rivers in the world, a study released by the Rotterdam-based Ocean Cleanup said.

Ocean Cleanup is a nonprofit engineering environmental organization based in the Netherlands that develops technology to extract plastic pollution from the oceans and intercept it in rivers before it can reach the ocean. It also conducts scientific research into oceanic plastic pollution.

The study found that a quarter of the rivers that were found to be responsible for 80 percent of ocean plastic pollution are found in the Philippines.

The researchers used a tool that could track plastics flowing into the ocean.

The study found the Philippines as the biggest contributor to plastic pollution. Of the 1,656 rivers monitored worldwide, 466 were in the Philippines. Together, the rivers dumped more than 356,371 metric tons of plastic waste annually.

The 27-kilometer Pasig River, which runs through Metro Manila, accounts for 63,000 tons of plastic entering oceans from rivers per year.

The study also said that coastal countries like the Philippines have a relatively high probability of plastic entering the ocean due to various factors, including short distances from land-based sources to rivers and much shorter distances to oceans.

Plastic also flows more easily into rivers from paved urban areas than it does in rivers from forests and travels farther in rainy climates than dry ones.

The researchers also considered the proximity of landfills and dumpsites to riverbanks, finding out that those within 10 kilometers of rivers are likely to spill into them.

Aside from Pasig River, making the infamous list were the Tullahan River, Meycauayan River, Pampanga River, Libmanan River, Rio Grande de Mindanao River, Agno River, Agusan River, Paranaque River, Iloilo River, Imus River, Zapote River, Cagayan de Oro River, Davao River, Malaking Tubig River, Tambo, Pasay (storm drain), Jalaur River, Cagayan River and Hamulauon River.

Reacting to the study’s findings, the Climate Change Commission (CCC) said the study findings raise “extreme” concern on the issue of mismanaged plastic wastes in the country.

The CCC noted that the study supports its call for urgent efforts to solve the plastic crisis by implementing measures to regulate and in turn, halt the production of unnecessary plastics-made straws and stirrers, spoon and fork, and plastic labo, among others.

The CCC mentioned House Bill 9147 or the “Single-Use Plastics Products Regulation Act,” recently approved on second reading in the House of Representatives, which serves as a potential measure that will effectively address the country’s high rate of plastic waste leakage and plastics’ impacts on the environment, public health and climate change through a nationwide phaseout of single-use plastics and implementation of producers’ responsibility schemes.

For the CCC, the HB 9147 ushers in the start for producers to shift their dependence on throwaway packaging models to more sustainable reuse and refill systems.

“The agency strongly urges the public to use alternatives and adopt workable community-based solutions to shift away from the single-use, throwaway culture that currently dominates our market,” the CCC said.

The Ocean Cleanup study was released as San Miguel Corp. (SMC), in partnership with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), other national government agencies, and Metro Manila mayors, launched its ambitious, five-year plan to clean up and rehabilitate the Pasig River.

The project is set to become the largest river rehabilitation project in the country, with SMC President Ramon Ang announcing that the company’s budget for the undertaking is being doubled to P2 billion.

“There have been many cleanup efforts in the past, and government has successfully implemented a number of programs these past few years,” Ang said. “But decades of pollution and compounding problems that have rendered the river biologically dead since the 1990s are too significant and complex to overcome – even for the best-intentioned advocates and organizations.”

“We hope that with the resources and technical know-how that we are bringing into the effort today – along with the continued support of our national government agencies and local government units – we can all make a bigger difference,” he added.

Present at the simple launching ceremony were Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu, Metro Manila Development Authority Chairman Benhur Abalos, Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso, Mandaluyong City Mayor Menchie Abalos, Interior and Local Government Undersecretary Epimaco Densing 3rd, Public Works Assistant Secretary Antonio Mulano, and Coast Guard station commander for Pasig Crisanto Anas.