To promote its ferry buses as an alternative mode of transportation among Catholic devotees, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) will spearhead a half-day Visita Iglesia on April 14 using the Pasig River ferry network.
MMDA General Manager Corazon Jimenez said the fluvial Visita Iglesia would be “something very new” for those who visit churches to meditate on the Way of the Cross during Holy Week.
Among those expected to participate in the activity which will be held from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. are nuns from the Daughters of St. Paul, members of the group Women’s Forum and alumnae of St. Theresa’s College in Quezon City.
They will be joined by members of the Pasig River Rehabilitation Center and MMDA employees, Jimenez said.
The plan of the MMDA is to visit four churches which are within walking distance of the ferry stations in Guadalupe, Sta. Ana, Sta. Mesa and Plaza Mexico—the first four to open when the ferry system becomes fully operational on April 28.
These four churches are the Our Lady of Guadalupe Shrine in Guadalupe, Makati City; Our Lady of the Abandoned Parish in Sta. Ana, Manila; Sacred Heart of Jesus in Sta. Mesa, Manila; and the Manila Cathedral near Plaza Mexico in Intramuros, Manila.
“This is the perfect time to hold a spiritual activity and at the same time popularize the Pasig ferry system since it is set to open on April 28,” Jimenez said.
“We want the public to know that it is possible to visit churches during Holy Week without using their cars,” she added.
The MMDA will be using for the Visita Iglesia its ferry buses which are basically minibuses carried by boats.
The agency has converted its three 20-meter-long tugboats, usually used for rescue operations, into ferries. It hopes, however, to spark interest among private firms who may want to invest in the river ferry transport network.
Before its shutdown, the ferry system moved some 500,000 passengers a year from 2007 to 2010, according to the MMDA.
In bringing back the ferry service, the MMDA hopes to provide an alternative way to travel in anticipation of heavy vehicular traffic once 15 major government infrastructure projects get underway.