Water hyacinth covers the Pasig River in Guadalupe, Makati City, as shown in this photo taken on Oct. 7, 2020. (File photo by NIÑO JESUS ORBETA / Philippine Daily Inquirer)
MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Wednesday dubbed himself as an “anak ng Pasig” (child of Pasig) as he unveiled the “Pasig Bigyang Buhay Muli,” a project to rehabilitate the historic river.
Marcos launched the project with first lady Liza Marcos.
“Our stewardship of this national asset leaves much to be desired. A national deficit that we have never properly erased. I am personally a witness to this,” Marcos said in his speech in Manila.
“I am a child of the Pasig,” he added in Filipino.
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Marcos said he grew up along the Pasig River and now works there in Malacañan Palace.
The Palace, once occupied by his father, the late Ferdinand Marcos Sr., sits along the bank of the Pasig River.
“After the end of the country’s colonial period, the symbol of executive power was housed along its banks. For a river that has given us so much, we have given back too little,” said Marcos.