Arjay Onbrog looks to domestic waste in Pasig River as Hilario Bomong tries to collect recyclables.

A child collects plastic materials in Baseco compound, in Manila.

A woman washes her clothes in Estero de Magdalena, in Manila.

Nolito Abano, 21 years old, needs need to spend a year on oxygen to restore part of the damage in his lungs after picking up garbage every day of his life since he was three years old.

Alvarez family resting in their house in Estero de Magdalena.

Fabon family outside their house in Baseco, Manila.

A man fishing next to a disabled industrial building on the banks of Pasig River.

A baby is seen in one of the houses in Estero de Magdalena.

Loreto Rosales eats a plate of plain noodles and rice, the only meal he would have that day, alongside his family, in Baseco.

A PRRC river warrior cleaning up the Pasig River in Manila, Philippines.

A drawing that alerts to the dumping of garbage on one of the pillars of a bridge over the Pasig River.

A young boy is seen going to the Saluhib family's house built in a space between two viaducts having the Pasig as their only neighbour.

Children playing in Estero de Magdalena.

A toilet that is not used because there’s no sewage is seen outside a house in Baseco.

Houses built under a bridge crossing the Pasig River in Manila.

A boy tries to pick up a toy gun floating on the polluted waters of Estero de Magdalena.

Garbage patch in Estero de la Reigna, in Manila.

THE HEART OF A CITY BECAME ITS SHAME.

PASIG RIVER, WHICH ONCE WAS MANILA’S ECONOMIC CENTER, IS NOW THE REFLEX OF AN EXTREMELY UNEVEN SOCIETY IN WHICH 21,6% OF ITS POPULATION LIVES BELOW POVERTY LINE, FIGHTING EVERYDAY AGAINST THEIR OWN POLLUTION.

DESPERATE FOR WORK, MANY FILIPINOS SAW IN MANILA THEIR SOLUTION. FAILED BY THEIR DREAMS, MANY ENDED UP AS INFORMAL SETTLERS BY THE RIVER. THEIR CONTINUED WASTE AND THE CONSTANT DUMPING FROM FACTORIES TURNED THE PASIG INTO A SEWER.

NEGLECTED FOR TOO LONG, THE RIVER WAS CONSIDERED BIOLOGICALLY DEAD IN THE 1990’S.

TODAY, FRAGILE CONSTRUCTIONS BUILT TO EMBRACE FRAGILE LIVES ARE NO MORE THAN CARVED WOOD ON EXTREMELY POLLUTED WATERS.

“ESTEROS”, THE LAST RESORT FOR THESE COMMUNITIES, WERE MEANT TO STOP THE FLOODS BUT NOW THESE ESTUARIES ARE THE HOME OF ENTIRE FAMILIES TRYING TO SURVIVE. PASIG RIVER BECAME THE GUIDING THREAD THAT TRANSPORTS US TO THE DIFFERENT COMMUNITIES THAT ARE DIRECTLY RESPONSIBLE FOR ITS LEVEL OF POLLUTION.

A VICIOUS FOOD-POLLUTION SYSTEM TRAPS THEM IN PLACES WHERE NO ONE SHOULD INHABIT.

IT’S AN EXAMPLE OF THE DANGEROUS PATH MANKIND IS TAKING WHEN THE HUMAN BASIC NEEDS AND THE ENVIRONMENT ARE IGNORED.