Members of the Subic Bay Freeport community band together throughout the year to protect their coastal environment and neighborhoods. Hundreds of volunteers from various Subic Bay groups, government agencies such as the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA), backed up by the Redondo Peninsula Energy Inc. (RP Energy), regularly scour the provincial coastlines, picking up refuse, and conduct regular workshops on garbage recycling, as well as sustainable livelihood projects and environmental awareness for fisher folk. Over the past years, RP Energy’s officials teamed up with the Community Environment and Natural Resources Offices (CENRO) in Zambales and Bataan provinces, Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), SBMA Ecology Center, as well as stakeholders like the the Blacksmith Institute, University of the Philippines Los Banos College of Human Ecology, and Subic Bay Integrated Aquatic Resources Management Council, to come up with creative campaigns (“Protect The Bay”) and workshops on marine environmental laws and best practices in coastal marine management.
“This is part of our social responsibility,” said Litz Santana, VP for external affairs of Meralco Power Gen Corporation.
“We believe in supporting our community, not by giving dole-outs, but by helping them realize the benefits of environmental awareness, preservation and sustainability.”
More recently, RP Energy established a program to set up mangrove forests along the bay, expand RP Energy’s giant clam farm, and the launch Task Force Subic Bay, which serves as a monitoring group beefed up by various local stakeholders.