Philippine 'river warriors' clean Manila's rivers

Volunteers are cleaning up Manila's Pasig River

LOCATION: MANILA, PHILIPPINES

They call themselves the "river warriors"

They pick up an average of 80 to 100 sacks of garbage daily

(SOUNDBITE) (Filipino) 54-YEAR-OLD RIVER WARRIOR, ANGELITA IMPERIO, SAYING:

"There's never a time without garbage here. It's unlimited. You'll get tired from trying to remove it all."

The government has praised

their cleaning efforts

and given them a basic income

There are calls for local government

to establish proper waste segregation

(SOUNDBITE) (English) ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT AND NATURAL RESOURCES, JOAN LAGUNDA, SAYING:

"I think the solution of this is that we need to relocate the informal settlers living along the Pasig River and punish all the commercial establishment who have this untreated water waste."

Over 80% of ocean plastics

originate from Asia