Rescue. Restore. Revive.

These are the buzzwords, the mantra, of “Shore It Up!”, a corporate social responsibility (CSR)-ecotourism project of the Metro Pacific Investments Foundation (MPIF), a member of the MVP Group of Companies.

Every year, the foundation undertakes an environmental cleanup campaign and other activities, with the support of local governments, to help save and restore the quality of the waters and dive sites in a Philippine ecodestination.

Sites visited have been Anilao-Mabini in Batangas; Puerto Galera in Oriental Mindoro; Subic Bay Free Port in Zambales; Alaminos City in Pangasinan; and Siargao in Surigao del Norte.

2013 being the fifth year of the project, the MPIF decided to revisit all the five ecodestinations by the end of the year, to follow up and strengthen all previous efforts.

DIVERS shout out their battle cry. AMADIS MA. GUERRERO

We are happy to see the improvements,” said Melody del Rosario, VP-PR of the foundation. She spoke in a recent press conference in Alaminos.

Endangered waters

The focus of the team then was the fabled Hundred Islands National Park in Alaminos, where the statues of the Chinese pirate Lim-a-hong and the mythical Princess Urduja confront each other, and Lingayen Gulf.

The activities were in coordination with the City of Alaminos headed by Mayor Arthur Celeste and the Pangasinan provincial government headed by Gov. Amado Espina Jr.

Pangasinan may be “the center of biodiversity but the threats are real,” Del Rosario said at the press con. “Fish has become more expensive than meat. There is marine debris, and the sharks and pawikan (marine turtle) are diminishing in number.”

Lucap Lighthouse, entry point to Hundred Islands AMADIS MA. GUERRERO

The main concern that day regarding the Hundred Islands, the premier ecotourist destination of the province, was the plight of giant clams.

Over 30 divers from MVP firms in Metro Manila and from Alaminos were sent to “rescue” the clams. “These clams have grown, that’s why they’re called giant clams,” observed MPIF consultant Ralph Balmaceda. “There is a tendency for them to move, nagkakadikit-dikit (stuck to one another) during a storm.”

He added, “We must rearrange them so that they can still grow. This makes for good environmental balance. It attracts more travelers, more responsible divers, and helps ecotourism. The water becomes healthy. Every living thing has a purpose.”

WELCOMING the divers from Metro Manila AMADIS MA. GUERRERO

Master diver Bill Magilton, an American, said: “The divers must make sure that the clams don’t run into each other. It may sound simple but it is not. We have some clever ideas to protect the divers.” The following day Magilton reported that over 200 giant clams had been moved.

There was also an all-day beach cleanup of Lingayen Gulf, mangroves planting, and a seminar for junior environmental scouts.

Mother Earth

Provincial agricultural officer Dolly Mayo said that, under the province’s mangrove reforestation program, “400,000 mangrove seedlings had been released in a short span of time.”

PANELISTS Malou Elduayan, Ralph Balmaceda, Bill Magilton, Alaminos Mayor Arthur Celeste,Melody del Rosario, Dolly Moya AMADIS MA. GUERRERO

She added: “We are doing this to protect Mother Earth and the next generation.” Mangroves protect against tidal surge and serve as a breeding ground for fish, among other benefits.

Balmaceda summarized the whole point of all these activities: “We want to use ecotourism as an engine to help the local people, to give them alternative livelihood, so that they can protect the environment and not resort to dynamite fishing.”