The Metro Manila Development Authority, in partnership with British Council and the private sector, has commissioned international and local artists to mount murals on the agency’s pumping stations along the Pasig River.
The project aimed to inspire residents of Metro Manila to explore the river while riding the Pasig River Ferry where they can appreciate the river’s potential and also be made aware of the challenges such as cleanliness that affect its rehabilitation.
The artists will be painting murals on eight different pumping stations along the Pasig River beginning this month up to July this year. The MMDA and its private partners namely—Davies Paints, San Miguel Holdings, and OneReDesign Manila—will organize an art cruise as soon as all of the murals are finished.
MMDA assistant general manager for Operations Julia Nebrija said the artists were chosen to take part under the agency’s Pasig River Art for Urban Change project after careful evaluation and screening.
An Advisory Group, headed by Nebrija, composed of artist Leeroy New; Patrick Flores, UP Vargas Museum curator; and Lai del Rosario of the British Council head of Arts and Creative Industries selected the finalists from 75 artists who submitted proposals through an open call.
The finalists include Archie Oclos, Cristina Lina, Ged Alangui, Julius Sebastian, Kris Abrigo, Luigi Almuena, Malarko Hernandez, Ralph Eya and Team Manila.
Lina and Hernandez are both based in the United Kingdom and will travel to Manila specifically for this project.
Nebrija said this is the first of many projects the MMDA hopes to champion through the Pasig River Art for Urban Change project, an initiative of the MMDA and its partners to create more livable and inclusive cities through the regeneration of urban waterways.
She added that the project also brings attention to the pumping stations, which are often overlooked as common infrastructures in Metro Manila, but are vital facilities to address the massive flooding in the metropolis especially during the rainy season.
To help these facilities work efficiently in pumping excess water during heavy downpour, MMDA’s Flood Control and Sewerage Management Office personnel are regularly de-clogging and clearing waterways of garbage and other debris.
In 2014, lawmakers called on the National Economic and Development Authority and the Transportation department to use the PPP (Private-Public Partnership) scheme to develop further the ferry system.
PPP is government service or private business venture which is funded, constructed and operated through a partnership between the government and the private sector.
Reports showed that the previous private operator of Pasig Ferry Service Project, which ran from March 2007 to December 2010, gave up after incurring only P94 million in financial losses due to low ridership amid rising fuel costs.
The agency revived the Pasig River system as a means to decongest Metro Manila’s major roads affected by the ongoing road construction projects being implemented by the government.