Hundreds join coastal clean-up, mangrove planting

By COCOY SEXCION


MALAPATAN, Sarangani (September 16, 2011) - Hundreds of volunteers gathered at the coast of barangay Poblacion for a coastal clean-up and mangrove planting and growing activity Friday (September 16) in observance of the month-long international coastal clean-up celebration.

“Today, we are going to plant 1,000 mangrove seedlings. This activity is our contribution to the international coastal clean-up celebration and this is also part of the commitment of the Alcantara Group of Companies to plant 50,000 mangroves all around Sarangani Bay in the next three years from 2011 to 2013,” said Richlie Lyndon Magtulis, executive director of Conrado and Ladislawa Alcantara Foundation Inc. (CLAFI).

“We are doing this because we are very dependent on Sarangani Bay in our businesses. For almost 50 years, the Agri Business Unit of the Alcantara Group has been relying on Sarangani Bay, so in return, we would like to preserve and protect the bay not only for our benefits but for the benefit of the people in Sarangani as well,” Magtulis added.

The event was spearheaded by CLAFI in partnership with the local government of Malapatan and provincial government of Sarangani through its Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office. It was participated in by volunteers from Department of Education, Malapatan Police Station, 73rd Infantry Battalion, social welfare beneficiaries, Department of Interior and Local Government, and barangay officials and employees of the host barangay.

“This is all part of our campaign under the peace and development outreach program of the battalion. We are helping the LGUs and the community in the conduct of environmental protection,” said Lt. Nestor Valenzuela, commanding officer of the Alpha Company, 73rd IB.

“Rest assured that the 73rd IB will continue to support any activity with regards to preservation and protection of the environment,” he added.

In Sarangani, there 27 different species of mangroves out of the 54 endemic in the whole country, said provincial environment employee Jopy Caneda in his briefing on mangroves and solid waste management .

He said that in Sarangani 300,000 kilos of waste are generated everyday, 70% of which are biodegradable and almost 20% percent of those that are plastics are thrown in the bay.


“Since it’s coastal clean-up celebration, let’s manage our waste and start cleaning our bay,” Caneda said. (Cocoy Sexcion/SARANGANI INFORMATION OFFICE)