Marikina River
Encyclopedia
Metro Manila
Metropolitan Manila , the National Capital Region , or simply Metro Manila, is the metropolitan region encompassing the City of Manila and its surrounding areas in the Philippines...
, Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
. A river stretching from Rodriguez, Rizal
Rodriguez, Rizal
Rodriguez, Rizal is a first-class, urban municipality in the province of Rizal, Philippines. It is the northernmost town in the province and comes after San Mateo, Rizal, and Quezon City coming from Metro Manila...
, to Pasig City
Pasig City
The City of Pasig is one of the city municipalities of Metro Manila in the Philippines and was the former capital of the province of Rizal prior to the formation of this grouping of cities designated as the National Capital Region...
that connects to Pasig River
Pasig River
The Pasig River is a river in the Philippines that connects Laguna de Bay to Manila Bay. Stretching for , it is lined by Metro Manila on each side...
as major tributary near Napindan Area in Pasig City.
San Mateo - Marikina River used to be an important transport route during Spanish era. However, due to negligence and industrial development, the river has become very polluted. Also, squatters nearby simply dumped their garbage at the river. In the late 1990s because of the dynamic transformation of Marikina City
Marikina City
Marikina, officially the City of Marikina, known as the Shoe Capital of the Philippines, was former capital of the province of Manila during the declaration of Philippine Independence and one of the sixteen cities within the Manila Metropolitan Area. Marikina is part of Eastern Manila District of...
under Mayor Bayani Fernando
Bayani Fernando
Bayani Flores Fernando is the former Chairman of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority .He has announced his intention to run for President of the Philippines in the 2010 election. However, after talks with Richard Gordon, he agreed to slide as Vice President for Gordon's newly-established...
the river has survived and now, one of the most important treasures in Marikina City.
The San Mateo - Marikina River flows in the center of Marikina Valley because of the mountain ranges of Sierra Madre on the east and Quezon City or Capitol Hills in Quezon City
Quezon City
Quezon City is the former capital and the most populous city in the Philippines. Located on the island of Luzon, Quezon City is one of the cities and municipalities that make up Metro Manila, the National Capital Region. The city was named after Manuel L...
on the west. Marikina River is much known in Marikina City because the city itself maintain its rehabilitation of a river which is a good example in other cities not only in Metro Manila but in the Philippines for reviving neglected rivers and water systems. The river recognized as Hall of Famer for the Cleanest Inland Water in Metro Manila.
The Marikina River system
Marikina River is considered to be at the heart of Marikina City. It intersects with Pasig River along the Manggahan FloodwayManggahan Floodway
The Manggahan Floodway is an artificially constructed waterway in Metro Manila, the Philippines. The floodway was built in 1986, with the cost of 1.1 billion pesos, in order to reduce the flooding along the Pasig River during the rainy season, by diverting the peak water flows of the Marikina...
. The Manggahan Floodway connects Pasig River and Marikina River with Laguna de Bay
Laguna de Bay
Laguna de Bay is the largest lake in the Philippines and the third largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia after Tonle Sap in Cambodia and Lake Toba in Sumatra, Indonesia. It is on the island of Luzon between the provinces of Laguna to the south and Rizal to the north...
. Its water flows from the upper portion of the Marikina River into the Manggahan Floodway then directly to the Laguna Lake.
It has 7 creeks and waterways connected to it. The river's depth ranges from 3–21 meters and spans from 70–120 meters. It has a total area of nearly 75.2 hectares and is 11 kilometers long. The riverbank has an elevation of 8 meters above sea level at the boundary of San Mateo and Marikina. This slowly goes down at an elevation of 4 meters nearly before the Malanday and Santo Niño boundary. The lowest elevation is along Calumpang which 2 meters above sea level.
The river serves as the city’s major drainage system. Unfortunately, the water coming from the creeks has many soil particles causing the river to be filled with soil particles coming from residential-industrial land. This has also added to the soil erosion problem of the city.
Bridges
There are only nine bridges crossing the river. They are as follows:Batasan Bridge Quezon City
Quezon City
Quezon City is the former capital and the most populous city in the Philippines. Located on the island of Luzon, Quezon City is one of the cities and municipalities that make up Metro Manila, the National Capital Region. The city was named after Manuel L...
to San Mateo, Rizal
San Mateo, Rizal
San Mateo, Rizal is a first class urban municipality of Rizal Province. Located on the island of Luzon, San Mateo is one of 13 municipalities and a capital city that make up the Province of Rizal, Region 4-A of the Philippines. San Mateo is part of the Metro Luzon Urban Beltway...
(near Batasang Pambansa
Batasang Pambansa
The Batasang Pambansa , also known by its nickname, the Batasan, was the former parliament of the Philippines, established as an interim assembly in 1978 and finally as an official body in 1984. Under the 1973 constitution, it replaced the former Congress established under the 1935 Commonwealth...
, Quezon City
Quezon City
Quezon City is the former capital and the most populous city in the Philippines. Located on the island of Luzon, Quezon City is one of the cities and municipalities that make up Metro Manila, the National Capital Region. The city was named after Manuel L...
), Gil Fernando "formerly called Tumana", Marikina, Marcos (together with LRT-2
Manila LRT Purple Line
The Manila LRT Purple Line is the second line of the Manila Light Rail Transit System. The line contains eleven stations and runs over 13.8 kilometers of mostly elevated track, with the exception of Katipunan station, which is underground...
from Katipunan Station
Katipunan LRT Station
Katipunan LRT Station is a station on the Manila LRT Purple Line . It is the only underground station in the entire LRT system. The station is located in Loyola Heights in Quezon City and is named because of its location on Katipunan Avenue, one of Quezon City's main thoroughfares...
to Santolan Station
Santolan LRT Station
Santolan LRT Station, or M. A. Roxas LRT Station, is a station on the Manila LRT Purple Line . Santolan Station is one of the many elevated stations that can be found on the line. The station is located on the stretch of the Marcos Highway and is named after the barangay that it is in, Barangay...
), Macapagal Bridge (Marikina City
Marikina City
Marikina, officially the City of Marikina, known as the Shoe Capital of the Philippines, was former capital of the province of Manila during the declaration of Philippine Independence and one of the sixteen cities within the Manila Metropolitan Area. Marikina is part of Eastern Manila District of...
), Manalo, Rosario, Sandoval and Santa Rosa de Lima Bridge (Pasig City
Pasig City
The City of Pasig is one of the city municipalities of Metro Manila in the Philippines and was the former capital of the province of Rizal prior to the formation of this grouping of cities designated as the National Capital Region...
)
Landmarks
Here are the landmarks and areas beside and near Marikina River:- Wawa Dam (Rodriguez, RizalRodriguez, RizalRodriguez, Rizal is a first-class, urban municipality in the province of Rizal, Philippines. It is the northernmost town in the province and comes after San Mateo, Rizal, and Quezon City coming from Metro Manila...
) - Wilcon Depot Warehouse (Rodriguez, Rizal)
- 9 Waves Resort (San Mateo, RizalSan Mateo, RizalSan Mateo, Rizal is a first class urban municipality of Rizal Province. Located on the island of Luzon, San Mateo is one of 13 municipalities and a capital city that make up the Province of Rizal, Region 4-A of the Philippines. San Mateo is part of the Metro Luzon Urban Beltway...
) - St. Nicholas School, Fairlane Subd.,Marikina
- Banaba (San Mateo, Rizal)
- Bagong Silangan (Quezon CityQuezon CityQuezon City is the former capital and the most populous city in the Philippines. Located on the island of Luzon, Quezon City is one of the cities and municipalities that make up Metro Manila, the National Capital Region. The city was named after Manuel L...
) - Filinvest 2/North Gate Subdivision (Quezon City)
- Capitol Hills (Quezon City)
- University of the PhilippinesUniversity of the PhilippinesThe ' is the national university of the Philippines. Founded in 1908 through Act No...
(Quezon City) - Ateneo De Manila UniversityAteneo de Manila UniversityThe Ateneo de Manila University is a private teaching and research university run by the Society of Jesus in the Philippines. It began in 1859 when the City of Manila handed control of the Escuela Municipal de Manila in Intramuros, Manila, to the Jesuits...
(Quezon City) - Loyola Grand Villas (Quezon City and Marikina City)
- Nangka, Tumana and Malanday (Marikina CityMarikina CityMarikina, officially the City of Marikina, known as the Shoe Capital of the Philippines, was former capital of the province of Manila during the declaration of Philippine Independence and one of the sixteen cities within the Manila Metropolitan Area. Marikina is part of Eastern Manila District of...
) - Loyola Memorial Park (Marikina City)
- Sto. Niño, Sta. Elena, Calumpang and San Roque (Marikina City)
- Marikina River Park (Marikina City)
- Provident Villages (Marikina City)
- Purefoods Corporation (Marikina City)
- Animal Trail (Marikina City)
- Barangka, Jesus Dela Peña, Tañong and Industrial Valley Complex (Marikina City)
- SM City MarikinaSM City MarikinaSM City Marikina is a shopping mall owned and managed by SM Prime Holdings, and is located in Calumpang, Marikina, Philippines. SM Supermalls is owned by Henry Sy, Sr.. SM City Marikina is the first shopping mall that has a wi-fi connection. The mall was designed by dsgn associates, a firm based in...
(Marikina City) - Riverbanks Center (Marikina City)
- Marcos Highway Interchange (Marikina City)
- LRT-2 Santolan Station (Marikina City)
- Olandes and Camp Atienza (Marikina City)
- Quirino Memoral Medical Center (Quezon City)
- C5 Road (Quezon City)
- Mercury DrugMercury DrugMercury Drug is the leading chain of drugstores in the Philippines.- History :The company began in 1945 with a single store owned by Mariano Que. He named it after Mercury, the messenger of the gods in Roman mythology and whose staff, the caduceus, is sometimes used as a symbol of medicine.In 1945,...
Corporation Headquarters (Quezon City) - Eastwood CityEastwood CityEastwood City is a commercial and residential development located in the Libis area of Quezon City in the Philippines. It is developed by Megaworld Corporation. It currently hosts 12 luxury residential condominium towers, with several more being developed....
(Quezon City) - Circulo Verde (Quezon City)
- Bagumbayan, Ugong and Libis (Quezon City)
- Santolan, Manggahan, Rosario and Sta. Lucia (Pasig CityPasig CityThe City of Pasig is one of the city municipalities of Metro Manila in the Philippines and was the former capital of the province of Rizal prior to the formation of this grouping of cities designated as the National Capital Region...
) - Manggahan Central Business Park (Pasig City)
- Manggahan Floodway (Pasig City)
- Ortigas Avenue (Pasig City)
- International Pipe Industries (IPI) (Pasig City)
- Republic Cement (Pasig City)
- Tiendesitas (Pasig City)
- Medical City (Pasig City)
- Ortigas Central Business District (Ortigas Center) (Pasig City and Mandaluyong CityMandaluyong CityThe City of Mandaluyong is one of the cities and municipalities that comprise Metro Manila in the Philippines. It is bordered on the west by the country's capital, Manila, to the north by San Juan City, to the east by Quezon City and Pasig City, and by Makati City to the south...
) - Riverfront Residence (Pasig City)
- Ugong, Maybunga, Caniogan and Bagong Ilog (Pasig City)
- Rizal High School (Pasig City)
- Rizal Medical Center (Pasig City)
- Napindan Spillway (Pasig City)
Biology
Marikina River is on the verge of an ecological imbalance, as a strange species of fish dominates its ecosystem. Prior to the invasion of the Janitor fish the Marikina river used to be full of other species: tilapiaTilapia
Tilapia , is the common name for nearly a hundred species of cichlid fish from the tilapiine cichlid tribe. Tilapia inhabit a variety of fresh water habitats, including shallow streams, ponds, rivers and lakes. Historically, they have been of major importance in artisan fishing in Africa and the...
, martiniko
Climbing gourami
The Anabantidae are a family of perciform fish commonly called the climbing gouramies or climbing perches. As labyrinth fishes, they possess a labyrinth organ, a structure in the fish's head which allows them to breathe atmospheric oxygen...
, ayungin and biya
Goby
The gobies form the family Gobiidae, which is one of the largest families of fish, with more than 2,000 species in more than 200 genera. Most are relatively small, typically less than 10 cm in length...
.
Since the late 1990s the Marikina River has been plagued by infestation of the so called "Janitor fish". There are two species of Janitor fish present in the Philippines; Pterygoplichthys pardalis
Pterygoplichthys pardalis
Pterygoplichthys pardalis is a tropical fish, a Plecostomus in the Armored Catfish family . Some synonyms for this species are Hypostomus pardalis, Liposarcus pardalis, Liposarcus varius, and Liposarcus jeanesianus. It is one of a number of species commonly referred to as the Common Pleco or...
and Pterygoplichthys disjunctivus found in the Marikina River and Lake Paitan in Cuyapo, Nueva Ecija
Nueva Ecija
Nueva Ecija is a landlocked province of the Philippines located in the Central Luzon region. Its capital is Palayan City...
.
A scientific study of the species found in five locations in the Laguna de Bay tributary system, amongst them the Marikina River, revealed that the specimen of Janitor fish previously reported as Hypostomus plecostomus actually belong to the genus Pterygoplichthys
Pterygoplichthys
Pterygoplichthys is a genus of the armored catfish family Loricariidae. These fish are commonly known as sailfin armoured catfish or sailfin plecs.-Taxonomy:This genus was described in 1858 by Theodore Nicholas Gill...
, family Loricariidae
Loricariidae
Loricariidae is the largest family of catfish , with almost 700 species and new species being described each year. Loricariids originate from fresh water habitats of Costa Rica, Panama, and tropical and subtropical South America. These fish are noted for the bony plates covering their bodies and...
. The collected specimens for this study consisted of two species; Pterygoplichthys disjunctivus and Pterygoplichthys pardalis. Both species were collected from the Marikina River. Only the species disjunctivus was collected from Pasig River.
The growing fish population has prompted the city government to launch a new program to control their number. The city issued Ordinance 004, series of 2007 to: Ordinance Launching a Janitor Fish Eradication Drive in the City of Marikina, Granting Cash Incentives to Participants Therefore and appropriating Annually the Amount of Fifty Thousand Pesos (P50,000.00) For the Purpose
September 26, 2009: Typhoon Ketsana/Ondoy
On 26 September 2009 at about 6:00 pm PST, the 50-mph "Tropical Storm Ketsana" or "Ondoy" hit Metro ManilaMetro Manila
Metropolitan Manila , the National Capital Region , or simply Metro Manila, is the metropolitan region encompassing the City of Manila and its surrounding areas in the Philippines...
and dumped one month's rainfall in less than 24 hours, causing the Marikina River system, including the Manggahan Floodway, to burst its banks very rapidly. Along with flooding along other river systems, 80 percent of the National Capital Region became flooded. Also flooded were 25 nearby provinces. In Metro Manila alone, 20 feet of dirty water forced people to evacuate their homes. By the 30th of September at least 450,000 inhabitants had been displaced, with at last 380,000 forced into makeshift shelters. 246 people were reported dead. It is thought that blocked pipes and a poorly maintained sewerage system, along with uncollected domestic waste, were major contributory factors in the speed with which the flood waters were able to engulf the surrounding area. A "State of National Calamity
Disaster
A disaster is a natural or man-made hazard that has come to fruition, resulting in an event of substantial extent causing significant physical damage or destruction, loss of life, or drastic change to the environment...
" was declared by President
President
A president is a leader of an organization, company, trade union, university, or country.Etymologically, a president is one who presides, who sits in leadership...
Gloria Arroyo, and a task force was set up to rescue the inhabitants, however the government was forced to admit that resources were in short supply, and called for world assistance. Although, good efforts have been made to make the drainage system better for the whole city by fixing the sewers together with the new trademarked "Red Sidewalks".
This is the worst storm on record that Manila has experienced since 1967.