29/09/2025
๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐๐๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ผ๐ป ๐ฅ๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ: ๐ฃ๐ฎ๐ธ๐ป๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ปโ๐ ๐ฆ๐ถ๐น๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐ฆ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฆ๐๐ฟ๐๐ด๐ด๐น๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ถ๐ณ๐ฒ๐น๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ
๐ ๐ฅ๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ข๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐๐๐น๐น ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ถ๐ณ๐ฒ
The Butuanon River, winding through Mandaue City, was once a symbol of abundance. For generations, it provided irrigation, fish, and a place for recreation. Residents recall how children swam in its waters and families relied on its catch for food. โBefore, we used to catch fish here. The river gave us food and water,โ says Mang Ruben, 63, who grew up along its banks.
According to SunStar (2010), the deterioration of the Butuanon River was largely driven by unchecked development and inadequate waste management, as untreated discharges from both industrial facilities and households entered the waterway. By 2009, its biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) had reached 172.9 mg/L, far beyond the acceptable limit of 15 mg/L. The river had already been classified as โbiologically deadโ in the 1990s, reflecting its inability to support aquatic life. More recently, the Environmental Management BureauโRegion 7 (2023) identified Butuanon as one of Cebuโs eight most polluted rivers, citing dangerously high f***l coliform levels resulting from untreated sewage.
๐๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ถ๐๐ต ๐๐ผ๐ป๐๐ฎ๐บ๐ถ๐ป๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐น๐ผ๐ผ๐ฑ๐
Despite its contamination, the river remains a reluctant lifeline. With water utilities costly and unreliable, some families still wash clothes in its greasy currents, risking disease in exchange for survival.
The river is also a seasonal threat. Floods in 2022 displaced 450 families and destroyed 675 houses. Another surge in 2024 pushed over 1,400 residents spent on flood control, yet structures often fail. In 2025, a โฑ47-million floodwall in Paknaan collapsed under heavy currents, highlighting the futility of infrastructure without solid waste management or watershed protection.
For residents like college student Sheen Aluba, living near the river means sleeping lightly during storms. โEvery time kusog ang ulan, need mi mag-atangโฆ kay basin natug nami nya mokalit nasad og awas ang river,โ she says, recalling years of evacuations.
๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐๐บ๐ฎ๐ป ๐๐ผ๐๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ก๐ฒ๐ด๐น๐ฒ๐ฐ๐
Butuanonโs decline is not just about pollution dataโitโs about people. Poor families who depend on it face both contamination and floods, while wealthier households enjoy clean water and safer housing. Here, environmental degradation intersects with poverty, gender, and health, turning the river into a justice issue as much as an ecological one.
When asked why they still use the river despite the dangers, Maria Fe Alenton, a 42-year-old mother of three from Paknaan, gave a weary smile before answering:
โ๐๐ข๐ฃ๐ข๐ญ๐ฐ ๐ฎ๐ช ๐ฏ๐จ๐ข ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ช๐จ๐ณ๐ฐ ๐ฏ๐ช. ๐๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ถ๐ฃ๐ช๐จ ๐ฉ๐ถ๐จ๐ข๐ธ, ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฌ๐ข๐ฅ๐ข๐ฐ๐ต ๐ด๐ข ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฑ๐ข๐ฏ๐ช๐ต ๐ถ๐จ ๐ด๐ข ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ญ๐ข๐ธ๐ข๐ด. ๐๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฐ ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ด๐ข๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฐ? ๐๐ถ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฎ๐ข๐จ๐ด๐ข๐ญ๐ช๐จ ๐ฎ๐ช ๐ฑ๐ช๐ณ๐ฎ๐ช ๐ด๐ข ๐จ๐ณ๐ช๐ฑ๐ฐ, ๐ฅ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฐ ๐ฌ๐ข๐ข๐บ๐ฐ ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฃ๐ข๐บ๐ณ๐ข๐ฏ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ด๐ข ๐ต๐ถ๐ฃ๐ช๐จ. ๐๐ฌ๐ฐ, ๐จ๐ช๐ฏ๐ข๐จ๐ข๐ฎ๐ช๐ต ๐จ๐ช๐ฉ๐ข๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฐ ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ ๐ด๐ข๐ฑ๐ข ๐ฑ๐ข๐ณ๐ข ๐ด๐ข ๐ฑ๐ข๐จ๐ญ๐ข๐ฃ๐ข๐บ ๐ถ๐จ ๐ฑ๐ข๐ฏ๐ญ๐ข๐ฃ๐ข. ๐๐ด๐ข๐ฉ๐ข๐บ ๐จ๐ข๐ฏ๐ช, ๐ฎ๐ข๐จ๐ฌ๐ถ๐ฉ๐ข ๐ฎ๐ช ๐ต๐ถ๐ฃ๐ช๐จ ๐ฑ๐ข๐ณ๐ข ๐ฑ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ฉ๐ถ๐จ๐ข๐ด ๐ด๐ข ๐ฃ๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐บ. ๐๐ช๐ญ๐ช ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฏ๐ช ๐ด๐ข๐ง๐ฆ, ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฐ ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐ข๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ ๐จ๐ช๐ฉ๐ข๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฐ. ๐๐ถ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฎ๐ข๐จ๐ฑ๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐บ๐ฐ ๐ฎ๐ช, ๐จ๐ข๐ด๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฌ๐ข๐ข๐บ๐ฐ. ๐๐ข๐ฐ ๐ณ๐ข ๐จ๐บ๐ถ๐ฅ ๐ฏ๐ช ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฅ๐ข๐ญ๐ช ๐ถ๐จ ๐ฎ๐ข๐จ๐ข๐ฎ๐ช๐ต.โ
Her children are also caught in this struggle. She admits that despite her warnings, the youngest ones are still drawn to the river.
โ๐๐ฌ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฅ๐ถ๐ฉ๐ข ๐ฌ๐ข ๐ข๐ฏ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ถ๐ต๐ข๐ฏ๐ข ๐ฑ๐ช๐ณ๐ฎ๐ช, โ๐๐ข, ๐ฏ๐จ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฐ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ญ๐ช ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฎ๐ช ๐ฑ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ญ๐ช๐จ๐ฐ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฉ๐ข, ๐ด๐ข๐ถ๐ฏ๐ข ๐ฅ๐ข๐ธ ๐ฅ๐ข๐จ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฃ๐ข๐ต๐ข ๐ฎ๐ข๐จ๐ฅ๐ถ๐ธ๐ข?โ ๐๐ฌ๐ฐ ๐ฏ๐ข ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ ๐ด๐ช๐ญ๐ข ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฏ๐จ๐ข ๐ฉ๐ถ๐จ๐ข๐ธ ๐ฏ๐ข ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ถ๐ฃ๐ช๐จ ๐ถ๐จ ๐ฃ๐ข๐ด๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฎ๐ข๐จ๐ฌ๐ข๐ด๐ข๐ฌ๐ช๐ต ๐ด๐ช๐ญ๐ข. ๐๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฐ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ญ๐ช ๐ฎ๐ข๐ญ๐ช๐ฌ๐ข๐บ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฏ๐จ๐ข ๐ถ๐ด๐ข๐ฉ๐ข๐บ ๐ฎ๐ข๐จ๐ฅ๐ถ๐ญ๐ข-๐ฅ๐ถ๐ญ๐ข ๐จ๐ช๐ฉ๐ข๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ด๐ช๐ญ๐ข ๐ฅ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ญ ๐ด๐ข ๐ด๐ข๐ฑ๐ข ๐ฌ๐ข๐บ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฐ ๐ณ๐ข ๐ฎ๐ข๐บ ๐ช๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฅ๐ถ๐ธ๐ข๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฉ๐ช. ๐๐ฌ๐ฐ ๐ฎ๐ข๐จ๐ฃ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต๐ข๐บ ๐จ๐บ๐ถ๐ฅ ๐ฑ๐ช๐ณ๐ฎ๐ช, ๐ฌ๐ข๐บ ๐ฌ๐ถ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ญ๐ช, ๐ฃ๐ข๐ด๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ด๐ถ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ช๐ญ๐ข ๐ด๐ข ๐ต๐ถ๐ฃ๐ช๐จ.โ
Her words echo the daily reality of many mothers who juggle survival and safety, forced to choose between contaminated water and financial strain, while also shielding their children from the dangers that run right outside their doorsteps.
Rehabilitation efforts exist. The DENR declared Butuanon a Water Quality Management Area in 2014, and Mandaue City launched a five-year Integrated Rehabilitation Plan in 2022. Programs include slope protection, cleanup drives, mangrove planting, and relocation of settlers. Some indicators show improvement, yet the river still fails even the lowest water quality standards.
๐ง๐ผ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฑ๐ ๐ฎ ๐ฅ๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ผ๐ฝ๐ฒ
Despite grim conditions, there are signs of hope. Local councils, schools, and civic groups organize cleanup drives and waste segregation campaigns, fostering responsibility at the grassroots. National agencies are combining infrastructure with education and enforcement, while universities provide research and monitoring.
Most importantly, the people of Paknaan endure with resilience. Mothers who once washed clothes in dirty water now join awareness campaigns, and flood victims are finding their voice in demanding accountability.
The Butuanon River, though scarred, still flowsโa reminder that healing is possible. Restoring it is both an environmental duty and a promise of dignity for those who depend on it.
