The Forgotten Duck Industry of Pasig

Not many Pasiguenos still remember the once vibrant duck industry of Pasig. Perhaps others,  like the younger generation, don't even have an idea about it. In a distinct time, when much of the town then was agrarian, duck raising and the production of duck eggs were a source of livelihood for several families of Pasig. In the early 1980s, the industry began to wane, until it was all but gone in the 1990s. 

Pasig duck farms along the Pasig River. The enclosures "puyahan" were located along the river banks. The ideal environment for the domesticated duck to produce eggs.

Early Spanish chronicles discuss the different customs, traditions, and way of life of the natives of our islands -- Duck raising was mentioned as one unique industry which many agriculture and animal husbandry scholars also believe, was brought by the Chinese many years before the hispanization of the Philippines.

One extensive description of the duck industry in the Pasig River during the Spanish times was written by Father Joaquin Martinez de Zuniga (1760-1818), with his magnum opus "Estadismo de las Islas Filipinas" (Status of the Philippine Islands 1800). The Spanish priest mentioned the methods of how the domesticated ducks were kept and raised by the natives, its propagation, the principal feeds of the animal, manners of how the duck eggs were collected and turned into commodities.

There are also old stories and narratives describing the numerous duck enclosures or "puyahan" in the river communities of Pasig located in that long stretch of the Pasig River — From the barrios of Buting, San Joaquin, Bambang, to Pinagbuhatan and Kalawaan, ducks were said to have numbered by the thousands even during the Spanish period.

Philippine Mallard duck (Anas platyrhynchos domesticus L.), Courtesy of DOST

The sight of many duck farms along the Pasig left deep impressions on those who have seen it. Even our national hero Jose Rizal wrote about in the opening chapter of "El Filibusterismo", in a discussion among passengers aboard the boat "Tabo": 

Chapter I of  "El Filibusterismo":  The Bapor "Tabo" was traversing the Pasig River. Conversation of the passengers: Don Custodio, Ben Zayb, Padre Camorra -- "No, no hablo de patos silvestres, hablo de los domésticos, de los que se crían en Pateros y en Pasig. Y ¿sabe usted de qué se alimentan?"  (No, I'm not referring to wild ducks, I'm referring to the domesticated ones, those that are raised in Pateros and Pasig." And do you know what they eat?).

River Delta

When ducks and the production of 'balut" are discussed, the town of Pateros immediately comes to mind. The town has always been known as the center of the industry in the country. Pateros used to be part of Pasig, until it was granted municipality status by the Spanish Governor-General in the late 18th century, separating it from Pasig. But what the royal decree could not sever were the obvious topographical connections that bind the two communities to the duck industry at that time — The river delta that linked Pateros to the Pasig River and somehow also leads to the town center of Pasig, serving as waterways, ensuring the free flow of goods, etc.

Spanish writer Manuel Scheidnagel's book: Islas Filipinas: Las Colonias Españolas de Asia, 1880, mentions that Pasig and Pateros are known for their duck-raising industry mainly for egg production,  where great numbers are sold in Manila. 

Ducks Outnumber Humans

At the start of the 20th century, the American colonial authorities initiated a comprehensive count of the population, natural resources, and also farm animals in the whole archipelago.  In the census for livestock of 1903,  the Province of Rizal (which included Pasig) had the largest number of ducks in the country. Bulacan comes in second followed by Nueva Ecija. People used to say then that in some areas of Pasig, ducks outnumbered humans. 

The number of ducks in Pasig reached the thousands. An article in the Tribune reported the loss of  about 10,000 ducks in Barrio Kalawaan, at the height of the typhoon in November 1937.

Laguna de Bay

Why did this branch of animal husbandry develop in the river communities of Pasig? One can always reason out the proximity of the area to the resources that were available in Laguna de Bay.  From the said lake comes the main feed of ducks, the tiny freshwater snails called "Sambuele"  (Melania Spp.).

Magnified image of  "Sambuele" - (Melania Spp.).

Laguna de Bay is the largest lake in the Philippines, measuring an area of ​​90,000 hectares and an average depth of 2.8 meters. These characteristics also made it ideal for the increase in the number of snails in the lake. And with its mentioned depth, it was also easy for people to harvest snails.

In a study in the 1960s, at the height of the duck industry in the Province of Rizal,  it was found that a large part of Laguna de Bay was only being exploited solely for the multiplication and acquisition of snails. Every year, an estimated 240,000 metric tons of sambuele are hauled or harvested just for the duck industry. It was also found that in 1963,  there were 4,324 "puyahan" in the vicinity of the lake, including Pasig. With a population of 516,980 ducks, that lay 219,300 eggs per day. Within a year, an estimated 80 Million eggs are laid.

Symbiotic Relation

Several types of occupations had also evolved brought about by the need to supply the duck industry of materials and logistics.  Occupations that emerged uniquely for the sake of the said industry.  First and foremost is the "Manunuso" (to some "Manlalabas"), those who gather snails in the Laguna de Bay using dragnets pulled by bancas in the system called "Kaladkad" and "Pangangahig". They were the suppliers of sambuele, some of them even prospered and were able to raised fleets of bancas to meet the high demands of duck farms. In Barangay Pinagbuhatan and Kalawaan there are still families who will tell you stories about the old occupation of their grandfathers and fathers being  "Manunuso". 

Fishermen were also part of this setup, especially those who specialize in catching shrimps, using the "Bonbon" method, since this species of small freshwater shrimps (Macrobrachium lanceifrons) are also considered supplemental feeds to ducks.

Snail fishing gear use in Laguna de Bay: a) Kaladkad b) Pangahig

It is important to note the symbiotic relation between rice paddies and duck farms. "Palay" or unhusked rice is another important feed to ducks that during the onset of the rainy season, farmers allowed a raft of ducks to roam the paddies, feed on the residues left by the last harvest -- Ducks act as natural pesticides at the same time their droppings serve as ready-made organic fertilizers.

Rice mills like those from Barrio Palatiw, supplied the "ipa"(rice husk) needed to keep the duck houses or "kamalig" dry and warm. It is spread around the kamalig evenly which acts as the nest,  where ducks stay at night time and lay their eggs. In the morning, these eggs are collected and are usually found under the heaps of the ipa.  

Craftsmen also came to Pasig to sell their products related to the fishery and duck industry, like the boat makers of Hagonoy Bulacan. There were also egg traders from Manila who acted as distributors of fresh duck eggs and balut to nearby towns and cities.

Barrio Kalawaan was known for its incubators and "seho" (duckling) production, where duck farmers usually get their starter ducklings.

Native incubator (Philippine Agricultural Review)

Duck egg traders 

    

Kulinarya

The balut of course is considered the duck industry's main culinary product and is always identified with Pateros. But there was a time when other byproducts of the industry produced in Pasig were very popular in markets, snack stalls and ambulate vendors in and around the greater Manila area — Like the "itlog na pula",(salted duck egg), "Penoy" (unfertilized duck egg), and finally the "Bibingkang Abnoy" (Omelet, mainly of smelly unfertilized duck eggs).

A kind of subtle culinary tradition somehow also evolved with Pasig's duck industry. In the said river communities, "Kalderetang Itik is still a staple of their fiestas. Each barrio has its methods of cooking and its own variations of the popular duck recipe. Leche flans there are popular, made with preference to duck eggs and carabao's milk -- Rice fields and river, again in a combination of wonder to produce this unique taste.

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Bibingkang Abnoy (T. Evangelista)

Why it Disappeared?

Perhaps many of us already have clues or answers as to why the duck industry in Pasig disappeared. The major factors of course are pollution, environmental degradation brought by industrialization, changes in both the mode of production and the people's economic lives. 

In the 1950s, big industries along the banks of the Pasig River began to emerge, polluting the river and displacing many people whose livelihood depended on the waterway. During the same period,  Laguna de Bay was deteriorating. There was difficulty in the harvesting of snails, which was gradually depleting over time due to the increasing demands of ducks. Fishpens then came in the 1970s adding to the environmental pressures facing the lake. Finally, the sewage system from poultry and piggery farms that accumulated around the vicinity (Rizal Province) damaged the water quality. By the late 1980s, Laguna de Bay was heavily polluted while the Pasig River was considered biologically dead.

In an industry that depends on clean water, pristine environment, and the natural resources the surroundings offer, the continued decline of Laguna de Bay and the Pasig River was a death sentence to the industry. Sambuele was hard to come by, commercial feeds at that time were expensive and impractical, one by one duck farmers gave up their puyahan. There was really no alternative but to abandon it. The other sectors that rely on the duck industry then followed.

Nowadays, if one buys balut, chances are, it comes from Victoria Laguna or even as far as Bulacan and Pampanga. They don't even make balut now in Pateros, what they have there instead are balut traders many of whom had also already folded up in the past years. In Pasig meanwhile, this once-dynamic industry is almost totally eradicated in the collective memory of the Pasiguenos. The riverbanks that once boasted hundreds of duck enclosures are hardly recognizable as it is overrun by pollution and are mired in industrial structures. Indeed, it is very difficult to fathom that Pasig was once a leading center of the duck industry in the country.