Sabang River under threat

After years of not having a regular clean-up while frequently experiencing natural weather phenomena, Sabang River, home to thousands of mangroves, has become a destination of plastic waste, man-made pollutants, wrecked boats, disposable face masks, and – even dead animals.

Sabang River is located in between Sablayan municipality’s market and Tabuk, a small sitio in town. It is also where the well-known Hanging Bridge can be found, one of the town’s tourist destinations. 

In 2018, Brgy. Sto. Niño officials headed a clean-up drive in some parts of Sabang River. According to Sablayan Tourism, in celebration of the World Water Day with the hashtags #TayoAngKalikasan and #WaterForAllNowandFoRiver in 2019, several local organizations have joined the clean-up drive along and within Sabang. And in November 2020, in coordination with some officials and local organizations of the town, another clean-up was organized in an area of Sabang located near a school to minimize breeding places of mosquitoes. 

At present, due to the pandemic, no events have been held for conserving and cleaning the said river. Vast volumes of human pollution have been observed in the river, especially in parts near houses built alongside it. Easily found and reported by locals inside the river are heaps of plastics, broken pieces of old fishing boats, parts of dead trees or plants and animals.

What is more observable now when you cross the Sabang bridge is that there are many used disposable face masks everywhere in the mangroves. These are reported to be improperly thrown away by people walking by the riverside or those who are crossing the bridge. Houses continue to be built along the river, with most of these lacking proper toilets or septic tanks, resulting in improper disposal of human waste. 

For the past 10 years, changes in Sabang have been observed and man-made pollution is said to be the root cause of its emerging problems. A big part of the river has changed in terms of its color and smell, living creatures under the water decreased in population, and growing mangroves grew unhealthy. A wider portion of the river became a residential area to those who do not have their own land, building houses there and claiming parts of Sabang as their own property.

Jomelle Raboy, a youth leader who lives near the Sabang River, said that during his term as a Sangguniang Kabatan (SK) councilor of Brgy. Buenavista for almost 3 years now, he heard only once about the plan to build a seawall along Sabang to prevent damages in times of typhoons and to protect residential areas near it. He said however that the local government has never conducted any activities like cleaning the river or any program that promotes preservation and cleanliness of Sabang. 

“In my 21 years of living here, I have noticed several changes in Sabang. It’s getting smaller and shallower, making it hard for the local fishermen to enter the river to secure their boats when there is a typhoon warning. Rats and cockroaches began to live in polluted mangrove areas near residential land, loads of plastics are trapped in mangroves, and a stench was coming from the river,” Jomelle added.

When asked about his hopes for Sabang, Jomelle said “I hope people would learn to take care of Sabang and make it less polluted to preserve its natural beauty. I do hope people would become aware of their actions and learn to avoid dumping or throwing wastes in any part of the river, so we reduce getting illnesses like stomach aches (oftentimes said to be caused by the river’s stench). I hope it’s not too late to bring back the Sabang we once had. And to my fellow young leaders, I hope we can use our voice and position to think of more platforms for preserving and implementing activities that would benefit not just the people, but the environment as well.”

How could possibly Sabang, its mangroves and underwater species survive these threats from human activities for the next 10 years if polluting actions cannot be controlled or reduced as soon as possible? 

According to Jialyn, a Grade 9 student who’s also living alongside the river for 10 years now, said that not only did the river change, but also the people around it. Countless times they have experienced seeing a sack of trash floating under and beside their house, as well as bodies of dead animals being thrown carelessly in the river. “Maybe after 10 years if people would never learn to be responsible with their actions I think Sabang would be more at risk of dying,” Jialyn said.

Jialyn also expressed her hopes for the Sabang River saying, “I hope one day, residents of this sitio and this whole municipality would have strong unity and sincere passion to help Sabang regain its purity. May we all learn how important rivers are in our life and we must all take the lead to protect what’s really meant to be protected and secured especially during these times.”

This article was written by Ma. Eloisa Subiel from Occidental Mindoro as a final requirement of AYEJ.org and the US Embassy’s “Green Beat Islas: An Online Environmental Journalism Training.“