Maria Cristine Anne T. Banzuela, @kaaksyon_tine BAJ 3A | PublicAksyon Posted on October 7, 2022
Volunteers from different government agencies and private organizations participate in the coastal cleanup at the Dolomite Beach in Manila on Saturday,in observance of the International Coastal Cleanup Day 2022. 📷 ABS-CBN News
MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) said that about 4,500 sacks of garbage were collected on September 17 at the Manila Baywalk Dolomite Beach as part of the International Coastal Cleanup (ICC) celebration.
The clean-up drive with the theme “Fighting for Trash Free Seas-Pilipinas: Ending the Flow of Trash at the Source,” is one of eight DENR-led cleanup activities in Metro Manila in observance of ICC Day, which is held annually every third Saturday of September.
The Philippine Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) West OIC Director Rodelina de Villa estimated that over 4,000 volunteers took part in the simultaneous cleanup drive, collecting and segregating sacks of garbage consisting mostly of plastic wastes, dried water hyacinth, and marine debris.
“Volunteers from government, private organizations, and private individuals came to the Baywalk’s coastline with their own garbage bags as well,” de Villa said.
According to her, the DENR Central Office provided 3,000 of the 4,500 sacks through the Manila Bay Coordinating Office (MBCO), and additional trash bags were obtained from participating national and local governments and private organizations, including Manila City government and the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority as well as the Philippine Army and Philippine National Police (PNP).
“The Manila Baywalk reflects the collaboration among all sectors that is necessary to address coastal litter through targeted beach cleanup activities.” she added.
Maynilad Water Services Inc., Manila Water Company Inc., and the Dragon Boat Federation of the Philippines also took part in the event.
De Villa commended the volunteers who joined the activity but said, “there is still a big and daunting task that needs support from communities.”
“We can make a difference by bringing communities and people together to clean up beaches. Proof of this are organizations and individuals coming together at the Baywalk Dolomite Beach”
As part of an initiative to clean up the coast, Rear Admiral Robert Patrimonio led the effort to coordinate marine environmental protection activities under the Philippine Coast Guard's Marine Environmental Protection Command.
Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) collection of non-biodegradable waste materials during the coastal clean-up drive at Manila Baywalk Dolomite Beach in Manila as part of the PCG's efforts to mark International Coastal CleanUp Day 2022. 📷 PCG
The PCG had collected at least 1,000 sacks' worth of non-biodegradable waste from various coastal locations.
"The International Coastal Clean-up Drive is essential because it promotes and unites countries and people with one common goal, which is to maintain the cleanliness of our shorelines, rivers, lakes, and other waterways." the PCG stated.
The coast guardians, along with representatives from the PCG Auxiliary, Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP), Heirs of the World Inc., Hotel 101 Manila, Climate Change Commission, and Eagles Club, began picking up trash washed ashore on the artificial white sand beach along Roxas Boulevard as early as 6 a.m.
The initiative was also in coincide with the 23rd Maritime Week and the Maritime Archipelagic Nation Awareness Month (MANA Mo), both of which are designed to focus attention on maritime archipelago issues during the month of September.
The International Coastal Cleanup (ICC) is the largest volunteer effort ever undertaken to improve ocean health, and it is conducted in collaboration with volunteer organizations and individuals from around the globe.
It is an international conservation organization dedicated to preserving marine ecosystems by enforcing environmental laws and promoting clean ocean conservation.
The ICC is a global initiative to engage people in removing trash and debris from beaches, waterways, and other water bodies, and also aims to identify the sources of litter, change behaviors that cause pollution, and raise awareness about the extent of marine-debris problems.
Garbage in the ocean is a major contributor to pollution, which has negative effects not only on human health but also on marine life and coastal economies. Tons of garbage and marine debris wind up in our seas and coastlines every year, with the majority of that being composed of plastic materials, which are hazardous to marine life.
This coastal clean-up activity encourages the coastal stewards to get to our beaches and help limit this problem by cleaning up what ends up in our oceans by cleaning up what has washed ashore.
In the Philippines, Proclamation No. 470 series of 2003 declared the third Saturday in September of each year as International Coastal Clean-up Day to be observed in recognition of the Global Coast Clean-up Celebrations.
The country joined the ICC in 1994, with the International Maritime Alliance (IMA) as the country coordinator, and more than 3,000 volunteers cleaned the shorelines and underwater sites.
Since 1998, the Philippines has consistently led the ICC in terms of volunteer participation, and has been dubbed the "clean-up capital of the world."
International Coastal Cleanup Philippines (ICC Philippines), a volunteer organization led by the former vice president of IMA, assumed national coordination of the annual International Coastal Cleanup in 2006, when the organization ceased operations.
Over the past twenty-seven years, the International Coastal Cleanup, in partnership with the DENR, has recruited more than 4.3 million cleanup volunteers and removed approximately 21,000 metric tons of trash and marine debris.
Recent data from the DENR-MEO-West, whose task is to oversee the maintenance of the 500-meter beach walk, has shown that 147,939 sacks of solid waste have been collected during the cleanup activities held from July 12 to September 14.
During the said period, a total of 83,109 sacks of water hyacinth were also collected, including 2,224 sacks of marine debris.
📷 Rappler
The multi-million-peso funded Dolomite Beach project, which became the focus of the recent 2022 coastal cleanup of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), is a part of the Manila Bay Rehabilitation Program launched by former DENR chief Roy A. Cimatu in January 2019.
This artificial land was developed in September 2020 as part of the Department of Environment and National Resources’ plan to revive the Manila Bay Rehabilitation Program, which was launched in 2017.
It is an integral part of the integrated coastal zone management aimed at coastal defense of the Manila Bay Rehabilitation, whose budget for the project was approved prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Manila Baywalk Dolomite Beach before it was opened to the public. 📷 Manila Bulletin File Photo
The man-made Dolomite Beach was created through the process of “beach nourishment,” which is a part of a March 2009 Supreme Court directive to 13 government agencies to spearhead the clean-up, rehabilitation and eventual preservation of Manila Bay.
The Operational Plan for the Manila Bay Coastal Strategy, which covers the years 2017 through 2022, and Administrative Order No. 16, which was issued by President Rodrigo Roa Duterte in 2019, serve as guides for the cleanup and rehabilitation of Manila Bay.
According to a report published in April 2022 by the University of Oxford's Our World in Data, which is a scientific online publication, the Philippines is the most polluting country in the world when it comes to the release of plastic waste into the ocean, accounting for approximately one third of the total.
The Philippines is home to a wealth of marine resources, with nearly 36,300 km (22,555 miles) of coastline in the archipelago with over more than 7,100 islands.
Philippine coastal areas and seas have served as the lifeblood of communities near and far for hundreds if not thousands of years, yet the country is one of the world's worst offenders when it comes to marine plastic pollution; Manila Bay's coastal areas contribute 0.28 to 0.75 million tonnes of plastic each year to the oceans.
Keywords:
DENR
garbage
Manila Baywalk
Dolomite Beach
International Coastal Cleanup
clean-up drive
volunteers
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