SUBIC BAY FREEPORT —Five hundred volunteers recently joined the 3rd Protect the Bay Coastal Cleanup Initiative led by Redondo Peninsula Energy in Sitio Kinabuksan, Barangay Cawag here, in line with the International Coastal Cleanup Day.
Students of nearby schools, residents and local officials joined the activity.
“Beyond doing a clean-up, we want to instill environmental awareness among the youth. We use this as a venue to also teach them about proper waste segregation and recycling. In other words, start them young,” said RP Energy Corporate Social Responsibility officer Jason Gavina.
RP Energy, in partnership with Kinabuksan Integrated School, also launched the Basura-Palit-Gamit-Eskwela program, a spin-off project where students can exchange collected recyclables and other trash for school supplies.
Litz Santana, Meralco PowerGen vice president for External Affairs, said: “We are happy that the Protect the Bay Initiative has become a multi-sectoral effort and platform, engaging volunteers from the government, to parents and fisherfolk. It is them who will sustain the success of this program.”
Protect the Bay Initiative is RP Energy’s flagship program for the environment, and its goal is to build a community of volunteers and organizations that will promote environmental stewardship and create sustainable livelihood within the Subic Bay communities.
School principal Alex Viado said: “We actually consider this as a best-practice in our school and we have adopted this program in our curriculum. Since we launched the Protect the Bay Initiative, we are now doing a monthly clean-up drive led by our own students.”
Launched in April, Protect the Bay Initiative is supported by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Philippine Coast Guard, Cenro-Olongapo, Zambales Penro, Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority, Subic and Cawag local government units, Department of Education-Subic, Kinabuksan Integrated School Parent Teacher and Community Association, Rotary Club of Quezon City, Rotary Club of Freeport Zone, Junior Chamber International-Olongapo, Philippine Coast Guard Auxiliary, Rotaract Club of Kolehiyo Ng Subic, Rotaract Club of Subic Bay Freeport, Calapandayaan Fisherfolk Cooperative, and Subic Bay Integrated Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Management Council, among others.
SBMA Ecology, also with support from RP Energy, led a coastal clean-up along the Boardwalk on the same day, with volunteers from the different locators and employees within the Freeport Zone. Twenty-eight boats manned by fisherfolk of Subic and Olongapo participated for the offshore cleanup.
RP Energy is the developer of a 2×300 megawatt power plant in Brgy. Cawag, Subic, Zambales. It is a consortium composed of Meralco PowerGen, Aboitiz Power, and Taiwan Cogeneration International Corp.