President Marcos is keen on utilizing the Pasig River as a center of transportation connectivity within Metro Manila.

Marcos said more ferry boats will be deployed and stations will be built along the Pasig River, which he tagged as "underutilized maritime highway, in a bid to make it an active transportation site within the metropolis.

"We will also maximize this ready-to-use but underutilized maritime highway, by deploying more ferry boats and stations," the President said in his speech during the opening of the Pasig River Urban Development Showcase Area project dubbed "Pasig Bigyan Buhay Muli" on Wednesday night, Jan. 17.

"Because, if you build them, the riders will come," he added.

The President stressed that the transformation he wants to see in the Pasig River is "not cosmetic in nature."

"We will not paper over the river’s fundamental problems, nor whitewash its grime while leaving the old and rotten still there. We do not want a river that is instantly made picturesque by coats of paint. We want a river whose transformation sinks to its very bottom," he said.

The transformation, he further said, begins by cleaning up the river and "some solutions are found upstream, because wastes disposed far from the Pasig River end up in the Pasig River."

Through Executive Order 35, the Inter-Agency Council for the Pasig River Urban Development has been established and activated. The order mandated the "rehabilitation of the Pasig River to its historically pristine condition conducive to transport, recreation and tourism."

Recreational and wellness amenities such as public parks and jogging and bike paths will also be constructed in key areas along the 25-kilometer stretch of the river, which traverses 11 cities in the metropolis.

READ MORE: Marcos opens 'ambitious' Pasig River showcase area in Manila