In Alegria, officials and volunteers clean-up town’s reef

Environmental officers, local officials, and volunteer divers in Alegria town in southwestern Cebu retrieved 210 kilograms of ghost nets underwater on Saturday morning, July 4, in a clean-up drive in the town’s reef areas. | Photos courtesy of MDRRMO Alegria

CEBU CITY, Philippines- As most parts of Cebu province prepare to reopen under the modified general community quarantine (MGCQ), local officials and volunteers in Alegria town decided to clean up the sea.

In a post on Facebook, the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (MDRRMO) of Alegria said a clean-up drive in the town’s seawaters led them to retrieve 210 kilograms of ghost nets on Saturday morning, July 4.

Ghost nets are fishing nets abandoned under the sea and often end up entangled on reefs that environmentalists said could cause harm to marine life.

The clean-up drive in Alegria town was participated by officers from the Argao branch of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in Central Visayas (DENR 7 – Argao), the Municipal Environment of Natural Resources Offices, MDRRMO – Alegria, and volunteer divers from a privately owned dive resort there.

“It was very inspiring to “sea” and film this initiative during the though times of the pandemic,” MDRRMO stated in their post.

Alegria is a fourth-class municipality located 113 kilometers southwest of Cebu City and is facing Tañon Strait which is known for being abundant in marine life. / dcb