"Shocking" garbage river

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I saw this first on a Korean online news site. Then I visited the main site where the picture is published.
Most of the news about the Philippines that I see on Korean sites and shown on Korean TV are quite negative; but they’re the ones that sell.
It’s a shame but this is reality for some of our kababayans. I just wish that there will come a time that this will only be a thing of the past. Who knows we might be even using Hansgrohe faucets in the future.

25 comments

  1. When I was a student nurse, we used to work in communities like this for our CHN. Part of that is you have to educate people about factors that could affect their health environmentally. You’ll be surprised but no matter how persistent you are on telling them and asking them to cooperate in maintaining a clean environment, they would keep on going back to their old ways. It’s just frustrating! I mean it’s for their own good and yet it doesn’t seem to sink in to them. These are very basic things that people don’t seem to understand or just don’t want to understand. They would just follow you if you give them something in return. But, why do you have to bribe people to work for their own good? sigh It’s like you would hate and care for them at the same time.
    Edens last blog post..Sake Bombs

    1. Hi Eden! I guess somehow those people are already used to their kind of life that they don’t really care anymore.

  2. “”It’s just frustrating! I mean it’s for their own good and yet it doesn’t seem to sink in to them””
    –Thats called REALITY.
    “But, why do you have to bribe people to work for their own good? ”
    — I hope UTOPIA exists. But it doesnt
    “”It’s like you would hate and care for them at the same time.””
    — You are too kind then. In my case its all hate. ughugh*

  3. those effing SOB’s!!!
    and that was all i can say for about 30 minutes after reading some idiots trying to comment… not like their countries are squeaky clean or doesn’t have filth to fill up the entire grand cannon which, i will say it: a useless pile of dirt and rocks. At least Sahara desert doesn’t offer anything, and we’re all aware of it.
    reijenes last blog post..The Pain of Searching

  4. Well put Ms. Eden. Like you, I hate and care for them at the same time. We must understand that they are both victims and creators of their vicious and unfortunate circumstances.
    Arvinsign, I choose soju. ^^ I hope that won’t make you sound more supercilious and sarcastic. Lol. Mind you, sarcasm doesn’t win debates. And neither does punching too many holes onto your opponent’s arguments.
    Utopia won’t exist so long as the tragedy of the commons remains as a fact of life. Ugh…I hope we could start loving that which everyone owns…
    Elliots last blog post..Can’t stop laughing

  5. @ Elliot
    lets drink soju then 🙂 my treat. Well, honestly i dont treat that as a debate. If you have seen my arguments about religion, thats close (at least) to a debate.
    For me its a casual exchange of, should i say information? 🙂 Hmm punching holes? I dont think so, seriously..not really.
    Regarding this article..can anyone translate the korean in english???
    Im curious what the koreans are saying about our version of Han River 🙂

    1. hi arvin! i enjoyed reading yours and elliot’s comments… it’s like reading shakespeare… LOL
      the korean article just says that the picture published in The Sun shocked a lot of netizens… the picture was presented at the World Water Forum in Turkey… and that the health of the residents are threatened by the “garbage river”…

  6. Really? That’d be great! I bet you’re much older than me so you should. hahaha. I = freshgrad
    I think the newspaper published a very cheap filler. What’s in it for the readers anyway? Continue doing that The Sun and you’ll end up exactly like that river–full of garbage.
    Elliots last blog post..Can’t stop laughing

  7. “Most of the news about the Philippines that I see on Korean sites and shown on Korean TV are quite negative; but they’re the ones that sell.”
    – yap, right. you very well know that i don’t watch TV but the few times i did, i saw how Philippines is pictured as a very poor country. i don’t like it but reality is staring in the face. i wonder though, does Korean TV also show Koreans flocking scenic golf courses in the Philippines?
    wendys last blog post..Golf… in the Philippines and Korea

    1. last year, KBS had a 4-episode special on life in the philippines… the first one was about the Philippines’ love for singing, another was about how many Koreans have chosen the Philippines as a retirement ‘paradise’… they also had a special on marine life and another one was about… hmm, i forgot…
      i only saw three episodes…

  8. too bad that the philippines is always (dis)colored and has always (dis)figured in this way… is it because we lack discipline (and dont want to be disciplined) since anybody can just toss his/her trash anywhere and if you responsibly “correct” a “kababayan” he/she would lash-out at you or worst, he/she could easily drill a hole on your side…Or is it because the government is just good at providing short-term goals/plans- sort of bandaging a deep-goring wound (that obviously needed surgery) just to save face without analyzing and providing long-term solutions?…unsurprisingly,however, other countries have their own dark-side and blemish…they may appear very attractive, clean,peaceful and progressive but what about their suicide,divorce,abortion and crime rates not to mention their degree of unemployment, sexual promiscuity,offensive language and behavior…are they thinking so highly of themselves since they are also “highly and overly progressive?”…most probably..they seem to give a blind eye on essential matters that rots in their own country…and since we belong to just a third-rate country, we also play dumb and admire these countries who look down on us thinking that it is all bread&honey to live in these places thus we always seem to search for greener pastures only to discover that its grass has turned brown and yellow…when foreigners cannot appreciate something ‘made in the philippines’, why do we still esteem a slightly-torn foreign apparel as brand new?…is it because it’s a kenneth cole, a sisley or a max mara and the likes?…no one is really above another because we are living in such an imperfect,wicked and a dying world…and sadly, people are caught in a juggernaut…

    1. hi lizzie! i think sometimes we should stop being defensive and just take a hard look at reality… and hopefully do something about it…

  9. I remember this disturbing incident when I was on my way to school:
    -Sa terminal ng jeep; on the jeep-
    Anak: ‘Tay san ko po ‘to tatapon? (corn cob)
    Tatay: Jan na lang.
    E di hagis naman si anak
    Manong dispatcher: Sino nagtapon nito?! (medyo iritado) Bawal magkalat dito!
    Tatay: Hoy! Damputin mo nga yon. Bat don mo tinapon?
    Si anak naman baba sa jeep at dampot
    Juice ko. Kawawang anak at lumaki sa ganong ama.
    Elliots last blog post..Can’t stop laughing

  10. this is sad but true, mag-ikot ka lang sa Manila, laging ganitong scenery ang makikita mo kadalasan. then pag umulan ng malakas, sisihin nila ang MMDA at never daw naglinis ng mga estero at kanal. these people put the blame on others, e sila naman may kagagawan ng problema na nangyari sa kanila. even up to this day, madami pa din ang nagtatapon kahit saan. millions of pesos have been spent to clean rivers but still, ganun pa din. yung mga nakatira ang may kasalanan, kaya naman pag bumagyo at bumaha sila din ang napeperwisyo. karma lang yan…
    marians last blog post..Fresh Lumpia or Lumpiang Ubod

  11. I can’t blame the Koreans posting pictures like this one. However, I hope they will try to showcase beaches like Boracay, Puerto Galera and Pagudpud because the waters are clean and refreshing.
    Oh well…ganyan talaga…reality yan eh… 🙁
    Snows last blog post..Bloggery Buzz of the Week (03.15.2009)

  12. @Snow — thanks for the visit… it was originally posted in The Sun – a UK based tabloid…
    if i didn’t know about the Philippines, that photo would also shock me

  13. “last year, KBS had a 4-episode special on life in the philippines… the first one was about the Philippines’ love for singing, another was about how many Koreans have chosen the Philippines as a retirement ‘paradise’… they also had a special on marine life and another one was about… hmm, i forgot… ”
    that’s good to know… many Koreans avail of the Special Retirement Visa in the Philippines so they could enjoy “paradise” there…
    wendys last blog post..Golf… in the Philippines and Korea

  14. Hi, Betchay^^…that’s ironically true..the philippines has its share of the good, the bad and the ugly…and most of the time, the last two outweighs the good one…but i guess, we all seem lazy and oblivious to this issue until this is brought in the eyes of the international media…that’s where it hits a raw nerve in each one of us…but by just observing almost all Filipinos (with an emphasis on the “F”^^)can hardly lift a finger and pick up a piece of candy wrapper aimlessly lying on the street corners nor do we care to empty our dirty trays after having our burpilicious-meal in jollibee or mcdonalds thinking that the crews are paid to empty it for us…well, you are right…we should have been “cleaning” our acts together long time ago but the opposite sems to be happening that’s why we have “made mountains (and rivers) out of a molehill^^”(of dumpsites, that is…)
    take care and i hope your family is well^^

  15. “i wonder though, does Korean TV also show Koreans flocking scenic golf courses in the Philippines?”
    ~ I remember seeing some golf courses in the Phils. shown on cable TV a couple of months ago. Can’t remember exactly which one but it’s somewhere in the Southern part. I think they were advertising tour packages, They also showed some Visayas islands and beach resorts.
    And don’t forget about the Korean movie filmed in Boracay.
    So they also show some good things. ^.^

  16. i just got back from the philippines, it was rare to find a garbage can anywhere and people would tell me to throw my trash anywhere on the street…i wonder why that is
    at least the provinces were clean…

  17. From my point of view, I think understanding someone else is something impossible. The reasons they act that way can be anything that I don’t understand. However, what makes us human is our effort to understand others by bring ourselves down to others viewpoint. Saying I cannot understand them may sound to me, they are pathetic and moreover, that you refuse to communicate. Charity or humanity is not about giving but understanding.

  18. i’m writing an article about the state of the philippines, the filipino discipline and our love for all things foreign.. kind of shiwung my love for my country in my article.. can i borrow this article ate betchay? 🙂
    btw, there’s a piso para sa pasig program going on.. you’ll be glad to know that there are also river warriors who cleaned some of the trash in psig.. the slums were also relocated and given better livelihood and there are also watchmen who guards it so that no one will return or throw trash.. it’s only a small part of the river that was cleaned but i do hope the whole pasig river will be cleaned soon even manila bay.. i hate seeing negative news about my country

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