By Roel Amazona/PNA
TACLOBAN CITY — Two cities in Samar province have launched coastal clean-up activities, replicating the Manila Bay rehabilitation program.
In Borongan City, the capital of Eastern Samar province, the Borongan City Tour Guides Association and the city tourism office organized the clean-up activity on Sunday, joined by 2,000 volunteers from various sectors.
The volunteers conducted the cleanup along the two-kilometer stretch of shoreline of Baybay beach, the city’s surfing and skim boarding destination.
The initiative removed six truckloads of garbage, mostly plastic materials and wood debris, said Cherrie Ann Calcal, president of Borongan Tour Guides Association, in a phone interview Tuesday.
The group hopes the initiative will serve as a reminder to the city’s residents to take care of their environment.
Calcal said a clean environment would make Borongan more attractive to tourists, hence, generating more income for local business and create new jobs.
“Our plea to residents is to always clean their surroundings and dispose solid waste properly to ensure a clean environment,” she added.
“The status of our surrounding reflects all of us. Residents of Borongan should exercise discipline and observe proper waste disposal.”
The city’s clean-up drive will be done regularly, mobilizing volunteers from government offices, non-government organizations, academe, church organizations, youth organizations, and the business sector.
In Catbalogan City, personnel from the Philippine Navy, Philippine Coast Guard, Philippine Army 8th Infantry Division, city government, and village officials launched a beach cleanup in three villages. At least 250 uniformed personnel and volunteers joined the clean-up drive.
On his social media post, acting Mayor Archie Fuentes said Sunday’s clean-up drive in Catbalogan is just a kickoff for the series of city-wide coastal cleanliness drive.
The citywide clean-up activity will also include rivers, creeks, and drainages.
