SUBIC BAY FREEPORT, Philippines – Students, workers from companies in this freeport and employees of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) on Saturday joined a cleanup activity along the shores of Subic Bay.
Volunteers cleaned villages in neighboring Olongapo City as part of the Shore It Up! International Coastal Clean-up program sponsored by the Metro Pacific Investments Foundation (MPIF).
The program was part of the International Coastal Cleanup Day, organized by The Lighthouse Marina Resort, and Ocean Conservancy, both non-profit advocacy groups that promote healthy and diverse ecosystems.
Prior to the activity, the SBMA signed a memorandum of understanding with MPIF for the Shore It Up! program.
The two parties agreed to be partner-organizers for this year’s cleanup activity.
SBMA Chairman Roberto Garcia said the SBMA supports the activity as it is in line with the agency’s mandate to protect the environment.
Garcia said the SBMA, through its Ecology Center, has initiated similar cleanup activities years before joining private organizations for a bigger cleanup drive.
“We have followed this up with other measures to protect the natural forest and coastline located within the Freeport, particularly with the ‘No Plastic Policy’ to help control pollution of both land and bodies of water here,†he said.
Garcia expressed hope the activity would inspire people, not just from the Subic Bay Freeport but from other areas, to protect the environment.
MPIF vice president for corporate communications Melody del Rosario was elated to have the SBMA as a partner in the cleanup activity.