Subic Bay cleans up after storm

SUBIC BAY FREEPORT, Philippines — Stakeholders in the Subic Bay area gathered by the hundreds here recently to help the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) clean up a shoreline littered with tons of debris brought about by a storm earlier this month.

SBMA chairman Wilma Eisma made the call for beach cleanup and waste segregation, as various trash washed up on the shores of this tourism center following a week of incessant heavy rains in mid-June.

“We’re getting better at these bayanihan projects because we have ingrained upon our stakeholders the value of malasakit,” Eisma said. “Everybody helps and everybody wins.” 

A delegation from Olongapo City headed by Mayor Rolen Paulino also arrived to boost both spirit and manpower during the cleanup, bringing with them two payloaders to help speed up the hauling of mostly tree branches, plastic materials and other solid wastes. 

Paulino said the instantaneous collaboration between the SBMA and the city government “showed that the two government institutions can come together swiftly as one for the love of the community and concern for environment.” 

“The residents of Olongapo, Zambales and Bataan have a deep sense of community, especially in matters of the environment. After all the sea, forest, air and water are resources that are common to all,” he added. 

At least seven major rivers empty into the bay of Subic, which straddles a good part of the 67,000-hectare area of the Subic Bay Freeport Zone. These are the Pamulaklakin and Boton rivers in the Subic Bay Freeport; Kalalake, Sta. Rita-Kalaklan, and Maquinaya rivers in Olongapo; and Matain and Calapandayan rivers in Subic, Zambales. 

Subic Bay, which forms the communal waters of Olongapo, and Zambales and Bataan, had been described as a threatened resource largely due to trash inflows from its tributaries.