Names: Soriano, Glaiza L. / Villafuerte, Jerome V.

Date: November 15, 2021

Course/Year/Section: BSES-3A Instructor: Prof. Danica Serrano

ECOLOGICAL ISSUE and BACKLASH

NEWS ARTICLE TITLE:

PAREX would bring more heat, more flooding in NCR,

various groups warn

I. Synopsis/Executive Summary

Purpose of the case study

The purpose of the case study is to stop the construction of Pasig River Expressway
opposed by the Greenpeace Philippines representative RJ Mallari by signing the petition to stop
the proposed PAREX together with 1,600 individuals and organizations including Move As One
Coalition, AltMobility PH, Renacimiento Manila and Youth Strike 4 Climate Philippines, and among
others due to some negative effects of the construction of PAREX.

Issues and findings of the case study:

The Pasig River Expressway, or PAREX, may not help the environment at all, according to
those opposed to its construction, who argue that it will only exacerbate the urban heat in the
National Capital Region (NCR). The opposition urges the PAREX management to stop the
construction due to the following grounds:

● The issues and findings of the case study are the possible rising of temperature along the
Pasig river area once the PAREX push to be constructed above the river.
● Increasing Waste Level in the Pasig river.
● Construction of PAREX can contribute to severe floods along the area of Pasig river.
● The project was already approved by the local government without the Clearance from
Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR)

II. Findings

Problem:
Negative Environmental impacts of constructing a 19.37 kilometer expressway (PAREX)
above and along the Pasig River. The negative environmental impacts are: (a) Once the PAREX is
 constructed it will absorb more sunlight that will be greatly contributed and worsen the increasing
heat index in the National Capital Region. Heavy construction materials such as concrete and
cement that are mostly used for construction of roads have the ability to absorb, store, and
release heat, therefore, heat index in the NCR will eventually worsen. (b) PAREX will increase the
concentration of water pollution in the River due to the non-exhaust emissions of vehicles that
will travel above the Pasig River. The non-exhaust emission includes road dusts, microplastics
from the car tires and other particulate matter, and these materials will either submerge or
dissolve in the river thus, it increases the pollution of the river. This would not only pollute the
Pasig River alone but it will also pollute the other rivers, streams, and oceans since the Pasig River
has multiple tributaries connected to other bodies of water.

III. Discussions

Summary
Construction of Pasig River Expressway will cause and result in irreversible negative
environmental impacts to the bodies of the water and heat index in the National Capital Region.

Alternative Solutions
The given alternative solutions are more about the vehicles since PAREX is proposed to ease traffic
congestion in the National Capital Region.

Alternative Solution 1: Vehicle Companies should Include in their purchasing requirements that
the buyer must have a garage before they are allowed to purchase vehicles. Staff of the company
will also be required to home visit the buyer's house to validate if they really have a garage.

Advantages:
● Number of vehicles in the roads and streets will be lessen, and non-exhaust emission will
decreases
● Air pollution will also be lessened.

Disadvantage:
● Not all people buy brand news vehicles, most of them buy second hand vehicles because it is more
cheaper
● Vehicle Companies sale status will go down therefore, economic growth of the area will be
affected.

Alternative Solution 2: Upgrade the number coding scheme implementation in Metro Manila,
from two numbers of number coding per day make it three, and from 7am to 8pm of number
coding operation hours per day make it 24 hours.

Advantages:
● Everyday, the number of vehicles in the roads decreases
● Heavy traffic will be avoided
● Air pollution will also be lessen

Disadvantages:
 ● There will be other people such as higher officials that will bribe traffic officers or use their power
to be exempted from the rule.
● Public vehicle drivers' income will decreases therefore, their income will not suffice their expenses
and needs.

Alternative Solution 3: Formulate a Law stating that proposed projects in a specific area will be
rejected if ⅓ of the population of the area oppose and sign a petition for rejecting the
implementation of the project in their area

Advantages:
● Voice of the citizens will be heard and their opinions and justification will not be disregarded.
● Citizens can now be easily granted for their request if they file lawsuits for companies or the
government.

Disadvantage:
● Government or the company who proposed the project can bribe the citizens in the area and can
manipulate the number of result of the petition

IV. Conclusion
The proposed construction of Pasig River Expressway (PAREX) will have a great
environmental impact wherein, it can lead to increase of heat index in the National Capital Region
(NCR). This is possible due to more absorption of heat that will be absorbed by the main
construction materials like cement and concrete. According to the study, The heat absorption rate
of asphalt and cement concrete is higher than the water bodies, but the asphalt and cement
concrete's thermal capacity is lower than water bodies. Therefore, roads made of asphalt and
cement concrete can absorb a lot of solar radiation and produce a significant temperature
increase, increasing the summer energy consumption of automobiles on the road and affecting
pedestrians' outdoor thermal comfort, and Heat index. On the other hand, the alternative
solution to this problem is that vehicle manufacturers should make it a necessity for buyers to
have a garage before they are permitted to purchase vehicles. The company's staff will also be
needed to visit the buyer's home to verify that they do indeed have a garage. Second alternative
solution would be to increase the number of number coding schemes implemented in Metro
Manila from two to three per day, and increase the number of number coding operation hours
per day, for example from 7am to 8pm to 24 hours. With these alternative solutions, the number
of vehicles on the roads and streets will be reduced, as will non-exhaust emissions, and air
pollution will be reduced in some way.
The National government and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources
(DENR) have no statements nor have an action plan or response to the construction project of
PAREX. But non-governmental organizations already signed a petition to stop the proposed
construction of PAREX. The petition was signed by 1,600 individuals and organizations and other
groups include Move As One Coalition, AltMobility PH, Renacimiento Manila and Youth Strike 4
Climate Philippines, among others. Furthermore, the Move As One Coalition group provided
documents, and statements against the claims of San Miguel Corporation (SMC) regarding the
project. The documents provided by the opposition discussed the possible negative effects of the
erection of PAREX above Pasig River. The Coalition group also proposed to SMC to revise the
 project proposal, inform and consult the project by the stakeholders and re-do the project scoping
the welfare of the Pasig River.

V. Recommendation
The alternative solution in the discussion should be adopted is the purchasing
requirements that the buyer must have a garage before they are allowed to purchase vehicles.
Staff of the company will also be required to home visit the buyer's house to validate if they really
have a garage. With this solution, this will help to lessen the production of toxic gases emitting
from the vehicles. Moreover, less vehicles on the roads means less number of pollutants being
produced. Another significance to this alternative solution is that a single individual is obligated
to have a garage before he/she plans to buy two or more private cars. This way, the traffic along
NCR will be lessened and that could lead to decrease the carbon emission in the atmosphere
because traffic fumes contain harmful chemicals that pollute the atmosphere. Road traffic
emissions produce greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming.

Reference:

1. News Article: Pedrajas, J. (2021, September 29). Parex would bring more heat, more flooding in
NCR, various groups warn. – Manila Bulletin. Retrieved November 15, 2021, from
https://mb.com.ph/2021/09/29/parex-would-bring-more-heat-more-flooding-in-ncr-various-
groups-warn/?amp.
2. Opposition statement and action on the Project: Mangubat, L. (2021, September 29). Pushback
against the 19.4km Parex, explained. Spin.ph. Retrieved November 15, 2021, from
https://www.spin.ph/life/cars-and-tech/the-parex-protests-explained-a1017-20210929-lfrm.