Much has been said and done about infamous deterioration of the 27-kilometer Pasig River - from when 84-year-old Purificacion "Nanay Puring" Malvas Punzalan could still drink clean, clear water from it in the 1940s to the stinking, black waterway that it is today. Decades have already lapsed since the late former President Ferdinand Marcos first come to rescue the slowly dying river in the early 1970s, followed by Denmark's response in the late '80s to Pasig River's cry to help. The most aggressive period for Pasig River's rehabilitation came during former President Fedil V. Ramos' administration.

Laparan, L. O. II, Villasana, B. G., Fernandez, Y. P. P., & Garcia, C. D. B. (2012, September 5). Clean river in 7 years. Tempo, pp. 2, 11.