10,000 volunteers join International Coastal Cleanup day in Central Visayas

• Source: http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?nid=2&rid=805987
• Saturday, September 19, 2015

(PNA), ZST/EB-PR/PJN

CEBU CITY, Sept. 19 (PNA) -- More than 10,000 volunteers on Saturday joined the International Coastal Cleanup (ICC) Day by cleaning up the rivers, creeks, canals and coastal areas across the four provinces in Central Visayas, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) said.

Nearly 30,000 kilos of trash were collected in a one day activity aimed at removing the waste that threatens wildlife and humans.

The trash has affected the economy, tourism and navigation, the DENR statement said.

“This year's 30th ICC theme “Bayanihan para sa malinis na katubigan at karagatan” amplifies the DENR’s pursuit with the various partners and stakeholders in cleaning up our water bodies by mobilizing our local communities to achieve a cleaner and healthier environment,” DENR 7 Regional Director Dr. Isabelo R Montejo said.

Montejo said tourism sector will be affected as tourists will be discouraged to get around the coastal areas because of heaps or piles of trash and eventually no income or livelihood will be generated.

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

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 change the behavioral patterns that contribute to pollution.

In Barangay Calajoan, Minglanilla, Cebu, some 4,000 volunteers gathered more than 300 sacks of garbage after a three-hour cleanup co-organized by the Civil Service Commission (CSC)7 in celebration of the Philippine Service Month

“This is part of the celebration of the Philippine Service Month as we strongly encourage our state workers to take an active role in the cleaning up of our water bodies,” said CSC 7 director Karin Litz P Zerna.

At least 18 government agencies participated to include CSC 7; DENR-7; Minglanilla municipal government; Talisay City government; Social Security System; Government Service Insurance System; Bureau of Jail Management and Penology; Department of the Interior and Local Government; Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources; Bureau of Fire Protection; Cebu Port Authority; Land Transportation, Franchising and Regulatory Board; Philippine Health Insurance Corporation; Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines; Department of Labor and Employment; Abellana National School; Department of Science and Technology; Bureau of Local Government Finance; and Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency

“We hope that this will not stop in ICC but it has to continue by institutionalizing good sanitation and solid waste management practices through education and actual participation in the management of our water bodies and reducing the pollution load,” Montejo said.

Private partners also supported the ICC.

These are Concrete Solutions Incorporated; Franciscan Friars of Charity; National Grid Corporation of the Philippines; Pepsi; Popular Feedmill Corporation; Precious Child Leaning Center; Ramcheschel Bakeshop; Rotaract Club of Cebu Fuente; Savvysherpa Asia Incorporated; and DHL Supply Chain Philippines Incorporated

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.

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.