The International Coastal Clean-up (ICC) is celebrated every third Saturday of September by virtue of Proclamation No. 470, s. 2003.
ICC is part of the global coastal clean-up celebrations. It began more than 30 years ago, when communities and environment activists rallied together with the common goal of cleaning, collecting and documenting the trash littering their coastlines.
ICC engages people to remove trash from the world’s beaches and waterways to free our oceans especially of plastics which pollutes the water and marine life.
It is also the largest volunteer effort for the environment and is participated by over 199 countries. Also, information collected during the activity is used to educate people and create solutions to the problems of solid waste litter in our coastal areas. It is important that we protect our coastal and marine areas as 80% of the more than 100 million Filipinos depend on fish for their protein requirements.
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has been at the forefront of this activity.
During this pandemic, the number of volunteers is expected to drop due to basic safety protocols. Yes, the DENR Region 6 makes sure that all PENROs and CENROs do their job as to maintaining the cleanliness of their coasts, along with the coastal communities.
PENRO Iloilo Information Officers have already started their action during the recording of the DENR 6 Weekly Radio Program entitles; “Ikaw kag ang Imo Palibot” in partnership with Radyo Pilipinas Iloilo on August 29, 2021.
Topic about the International Coastal Clean Up day was already discussed. Other PENROs and CENROs are expected to follow this movement towards a healthier coast. (DENR-6)
