Through the years, my consciousness of the Pasig River grew with the romanticized money owed approximately the river, with younger men and maidens on boats leisurely cruising alongside its banks and youngsters of yore with memories of swimming in clear waters still etched in their minds. The years surpassed and like all and sundry else, I started to gain wider recognition of the sector. The Pasig River have become a reference factor while travelling through Manila as I persisted to stay and paintings inside the metropolis.
However, it turned into no longer until joining the Maritime Industry Authority that I became immersed within the issues surrounding the Pasig River. The operation of any vessel in Philippine waters including those in bays and rivers is ruled by a franchise in step with the Public Service Act the provide of which is lodged with MARINA. Likewise, the Tariff and Customs Code, archaic as it can seem, has a few provisions pertinent to the availability of shipping services in the country’s bays and rivers. The small banca engaged in river crossing or regarded to its clienteles as “tawiran” is blanketed by a franchise.