The Taguig City government issued guidelines for the safety of participants of the upcoming Pagoda sa Ilog or fluvial procession.
The Pagoda sa Ilog will be held on July 26 as part of the Taguig River Festival celebrated yearly to commemorate the harvest of “banak” or sea mullet from the Taguig river.
The Taguig River Festival last year (Photo from the Taguig City government)
The Pagoda sa Daan in Taguig last year (Photo from the Taguig City government)
The Pagoda sa Daan in Taguig in 2018 (Photo from the Taguig City government)
The activities for the Taguig River Festival this year are Pagpupugay Kay Lola (July 24), Regatta (July 24), Indakan sa Daan (July 25) and Pagoda (July 26).
According to the city government, those who want to participate in the Pagoda sa Ilog need to register with the Lake and River Management Office (LRMO) with contact numbers 09171573639, 09560872179 and 09569847278.
The form can be downloaded from https://bit.ly/PagodasaIlogForm.
Only motorized boats will be allowed to join the fluvial procession. Participants need to submit a passenger manifest to the LRMO until noon of July 24.
In addition, only boats with numbers and the official logo of the Taguig River Festival will be allowed to join the procession.
The Coast Guard will check registered boats and their passenger manifests to ensure that only 10 people are the passengers of each boat; all participants are wearing life jackets; and all boats have safety equipment including buoy and first aid kit.
Minors are prohibited from boarding boats, and jumping and swimming in the Taguig river and Laguna Lake are not allowed while the Pagoda sa Ilog is being held.
Prohibited items in boats are alcohol, fireworks, drugs, firearms, any type of weapon and balloons.
The designated docking area for the Pagoda sa Ilog is the Pulong Kendi in Barangay Sta. Ana, Taguig where the fluvial parade will start and finish.
If the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) issues a typhoon signal, the Philippine Coast Guard will cancel the Pagoda sa Ilog.
In 2022, a boat collision occurred during the Pagoda sa Ilog that left one man dead and six others injured.
Last year, the Pagoda sa Ilog was not held due to a tropical cyclone and a Pagoda sa Daan was held instead.