DENR RALLIES PUBLIC SUPPORT FOR COASTAL CLEANUP EVENT

ENVIRONMENT SECRETARY RAMON J.P. PAJE rallied residents of Metro Manila and nearby areas to participate in the multisectoral effort to remove trash from the shores of Manila Bay and a coastal wetland in Las Piñas City, as part of the local celebration of the International Coastal Cleanup (ICC) Day on September 19.

So far, a total of 13,000 volunteers have signed up for the event where they will pick up litter at Manila Bay along Roxas Boulevard in Manila and Tanza village in Navotas, and the Las Piñas-Parañaque Critical Habitat and Ecotourism Area.

“We urge everyone to take part in this noble undertaking aimed at removing the marine trash that poses multiple threats, from harming wildlife and humans to endangering the economy, tourism and navigation,” Paje said.

The ICC is a 30-year-old global event initiated by the Ocean Conservancy, a non-government organization based in Washington D.C., United States. Its aim is to engage people to remove trash from beaches and waterways around the world, identify the sources of the debris and chance the behavioral patterns that contribute to pollution.

Since the Philippines joined the effort in 1994, it has so far registered 3.39 million volunteers or about 32 percent of the total 10.5 million volunteers the ICC had mobilized worldwide since its inaugural observance in 1986.

Last year, about 562,000 volunteers from 91 countries joined the cleanup, 107,695 of them are from the Philippines. Filipino volunteers have removed 208,438 kilos of trash along 335 kilometers of shorelines and waterways.

The most common items found were cigarette butts, food wrappers, plastic bottles and caps, straws, grocery bags, glass bottles and beverage cans.

“It is ironic that trash collection takes center stage in this global exercise in light of its overarching goal which is to prevent trash from reaching our water bodies,” Paje lamented.

He nevertheless noted how the scale of the effort to address trash problem through cleanup drives has helped shape government policies and corporate and industry practices on waste management and yielded strong alliances on marine rehabilitation efforts even among industry, scientific and conservation leaders.

At the same time, Paje expressed alarm over the large volume of trash collected by ICC volunteers in the Philippines every year.

Based on the annual report of the Ocean Conservancy, the country collected 240,360 kilos in 2010; 485,091 in 2011; more than 1.3 million in 2012 and 734,131 in 2013.

In 2003, Presidential Proclamation No. 470 was issued declaring the third Saturday of September of every year as ICC Day. # Adapted News – www.denr.gov.ph