Pasig River is an important river in the Metro Manila, Philippines, since it provides food, livelihood and transport to its residents, and connects two major water bodies; Laguna de Bay and Manila Bay. However, it is now considered to be the toilet bowl of Metro Manila due to the large amount of wastes dumped into the river. Even with the efforts of the government to revive the quality of the Pasig River and its tributaries, it continues to deteriorate over time. This paper provides an overview of the current condition of the Pasig River. The existing water management policies were reviewed, and the issues and challenges hindering the improvement of its water quality identified. Moreover, the water qualities of the rivers in Metro Manila were compared to those of the major rivers in South Korea. The current watershed management system practiced by South Korea has been discussed to serve as a guideline for future recovery of the water quality of the rivers in the Philippines.