DFA Consular Office Spearheads Coastal Cleanup in Lucena City in Observance of International Coastal Cleanup Day and MANAMo 2023

DFA Consular Office Lucena personnel, led by its Head of Consular Office Maria Criselda P. Abril (center), carrying a banner with Maritime and Archipelagic Nation Awareness Month (MANAMo) 2023 theme, “Kapuluan, Kabuluhan, Kaunlaran” (Archipelago, Significance and Development). 

LUCENA 19 September 2023 − In observance of the International Coastal Cleanup (ICC) Day and the Maritime and Archipelagic Nation Awareness Month (MANAMo) 2023, the Department of Foreign Affairs Consular Office (DFA-CO) Lucena collaborated with the Ocean Conservancy, the City Government of Lucena and the Rotary Club of Lucena South in spearheading a coastal cleanup drive along the 1.2-kilometer coastline of Barangay Ransohan in Lucena City on 16 September 2023.

Around 420 volunteers from various government agencies, non-government organizations, private sectors, Rotary clubs in District 3820, Kiwanis Clubs in Lucena City and the community residents gathered to remove, identify and record trash from the coastlines of Tayabas Bay in Barangay Ransohan, Lucena City. The coastal area of Barangay Ransohan is a catch basin of waters upstream from the City of Tayabas and the Municipality of Lucban. This coastal area accumulates whatever the water carries away during high tide, heavy rains or typhoons. A total of 953 kilograms of trash were amassed consisting of plastic grocery bags, plastic and glass bottles, plastic food wrappers, cans, foam pieces, toys, diapers, gloves, masks, clothes, footwears, appliances (rice cooker, fans, portable washer, junkshop rejects) and others.

Ocean Conservancy’s International Coastal Cleanup (ICC) is a global movement and the largest volunteer effort for a healthy ocean. This year’s theme is #SeaTheChange. It is held simultaneously around the world every year on the third Saturday of September.

The ICC engages the community to remove trash from the world's beaches and waterways. In addition to collecting litter, ICC volunteers record every item they find and contribute to the world's largest database of marine debris. This information will aid the governments, businesses, and industries in the development of solutions to the marine debris problem. In 2022 and 2023, more than 50 peer-reviewed scientific articles and published book chapters cited ICC data.

Presidential Proclamation No. 470 series 2003 declares the third Saturday of September of each year as the ICC day to remind and re-awaken our people for vigilance in support for the continuing crusade against the debris crises all over the world.

In a cleanup effort that involved 366 volunteers last year, 676 kilograms of trash were removed from the same coastline in Barangay Ransohan.

DFA CO Lucena’s Administrative Officer Khristian G. Holanda is the coordinator of the Ocean Conservancy in Lucena City, and has also served as the event's chair for the past two years. END

DFA CO Lucena volunteers as they remove, identify and record trash using a Volunteer Ocean Trash Data Form of the Ocean Conservancy.

DFA CO Lucena volunteers were all smiles as they cleared their designated area of trash.

DFA Consular Office Lucena volunteers with HCO Maria Criselda Abril (center), Rotary Club of Lucena South (RCLS) President and Lucena City’s incumbent Vice Mayor Roderick Alcala (8th from right), Lucena City Administrator Anacleto Alcala Jr. (5th from right), Lucena City Assistant Legal Officer and RCLS Secretary Atty. Francisco Ferdinand Lagman (3rd from right) and CO Lucena’s Administrative Officer, Ocean Conservancy Coordinator and RCLS’ ICC Chairperson Khristian G. Holanda (9th from left) during the awarding of Certificates of Appreciation to the organizations that participated in the event.