Volunteers gather trash from a creek and the shorelines of San Fernando.
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
A TOTAL of 500 sacks of garbage, estimated at 3.7 metric tons, were collected by the employee-volunteers of of Taiheiyo Cement Philippines Inc. (TCPI) and Solid Earth Development Corp. (SEDC) during the 10th year edition of the annual Save Our Seas (SOS) drive of TCPI and SEDC in Luknay creek, San Fernando town, southern Cebu recently.
The Mines and Geo-Sciences in Central Visayas (MBG-7), Community Environment Natural Resources Office (CENRO) based in Argao and the Bureau of Fire and Protection (BFP) also participated in the community action.
Chiyuki Sugawara, TCPI senior vice president and plant manager, praised the participants for chipping in “to make small changes in our surroundings and in the river.”
Engr. Romeo Gebilaguin, TCPI environment and safety manager, also underscored the need to “act now to take care of the environment for the next generation for them to enjoy the gift of nature.”
Alberto Gerozaga, head of CENRO-Argao’s Conservation Development Unit, agreed, adding that “households must know and learn how to segregate plastics in order to contain these from accumulating more in our water bodies.”
Last year’s SOS activity only generated 1.2 metric tons of garbage, way below this year’s 3.7 metric tons.