Pangil River
Encyclopedia
The Pangil River also known as the Bambang Hari River, is a river system that runs through Pangil, Laguna
Pangil, Laguna
Pangil is a 4th class municipality in the province of Laguna, Philippines. According to the latest census, it has a population of 23,421 people in 4,160 households.-Barangays:Panguil is politically subdivided into 8 barangays.* Balian...

 in the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

. It is one of 21 River tributaries of Laguna de Bay
Laguna de Bay
Laguna de Bay is the largest lake in the Philippines and the third largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia after Tonle Sap in Cambodia and Lake Toba in Sumatra, Indonesia. It is on the island of Luzon between the provinces of Laguna to the south and Rizal to the north...

 and is regularly monitored by the Laguna Lake Development Authority
Laguna Lake Development Authority
The Philippines' Laguna Lake Development Authority abbreviated as LLDA is one of the attached agencies of the Philippines' Department of Environment and Natural Resources responsible in the preservation, development and sustainability of the Laguna de Bay and its 21 major tributary rivers.- History...

(LLDA) through one of its 15 river monitoring stations.

The Pangil River sub-basin has a drainage area of 51.14 square kilometers.

How it got named Bambang Hari

Part of the river is referred to as the Bambang Hari - which, when translated, means "riverbank of the king" - because in the mid-18th century, King Carlos III of Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

 visited Pangil when he was still a prince, and it was said that he used to frequent river often.
When he was crowned king, he sent the images of the Santo Niño de la O and the Birhen de la O to Pangil in gratitude. the Birhen de la O, which shows a pregnant Virgin Mary, is believed to be miraculous.

Conservation

In the latest (December 2005) Water Quality Status Report listed on the Laguna Lake Development Authority's site, the Pangil River was listed as "Worse than Class D."
It also indicated that this status had been "maintained" since the river was last monitored.

According to the Water Usage & Classification for Fresh Water system used by the Philippines' Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Class D Quality freshwater is suitable for agriculture, irrigation, livestock watering and industrial water supply class II. "Worse than Class D" implies that the Pangil River is not suitable for any of those functions.

In 1980, International Rice Research Institute
International Rice Research Institute
The International Rice Research Institute is an international NGO. Its headquarters are in Los Baños, Laguna, Philippines, and it has offices in sixteen countries...

 (IRRI) researcher DA Vaughan documented six populations of Oryza minuta Presl. - a wild rice species known to be resistant to bacterial blight, bacterial blast, green planthopper, and brown planthopper
Brown planthopper
The brown planthopper , Nilaparvata lugens , feeds on rice plants . BPH are among the most important pests of rice, and rice is the major staple crop for about half the world's population. BPH damage rice directly through feeding and also by transmitting two viruses, rice ragged stunt virus and...

 - along a stream which is a tributary of the Pangil river.

A 2004 survey noted with alarm that all the populations were gone. The report attributed the disappearance of the rare and useful species of rice to human activities, particularly "livestock raising, farming, and road construction, which destroy the natural vegetation within the vicinity."

Scientists have noted that further studies are needed to prevent the local extinction of this species.

See also

  • Laguna de Bay
    Laguna de Bay
    Laguna de Bay is the largest lake in the Philippines and the third largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia after Tonle Sap in Cambodia and Lake Toba in Sumatra, Indonesia. It is on the island of Luzon between the provinces of Laguna to the south and Rizal to the north...

  • Laguna Lake Development Authority
    Laguna Lake Development Authority
    The Philippines' Laguna Lake Development Authority abbreviated as LLDA is one of the attached agencies of the Philippines' Department of Environment and Natural Resources responsible in the preservation, development and sustainability of the Laguna de Bay and its 21 major tributary rivers.- History...

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