LINGAYEN -- Governor Amado Espino Jr. will revive the massive environmental campaign he launched in the province when he was the police provincial director of Pangasinan.

This time, the rivers in Pangasinan are included. It will be under the battle cry "Save the Lingayen Gulf, Save our Rivers."

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In 1995, Espino launched the Save the Lingayen Gulf Movement to protect the Lingayen Gulf from further degradation due to illegal fishing practices like dynamite or blast fishing, use of cyanide, use of trawlers and others.

This is one of the major events lined up during the 64th Anniversary of the Lingayen Gulf Landings on January 9. The Provincial Government will not only give honor to the war heroes (who were instrumental in the liberation of Pangasinan and the country from the Japanese Imperial Army) but will also pay tribute to the environment.

On the morning of January 8, there will be a simultaneous clean-up drive at the Lingayen beachfront, Manat river in Binmaley, and Palaris river here.

Espino will lead other provincial and local officials in the drive. They will be participated by the youth, mayors, volunteers, employees, Limgas na Kawayangan candidates, Pangasinan police officials, and non-government organizations.

The other events are the search for Limgas ya Kawayangan ed Pangasinan (the pageant night was held Sunday night while the coronation night will be on Friday), Youth Camp and Fellowship with the Governor, and the Veterans Day Celebration.

Guest of honor and speaker in the affair is the most popular World War II veteran, former President Fidel Ramos, who hails from Asingan, Pangasinan.

Incidentally, Ramos was the president in 1995 during the 50th Anniversary of the Lingayen Gulf Landings. The grand celebration was chaired by Espino.

Espino is known as a staunch advocate for environmental protection. When he was still with the police service, he strictly required cleanliness within the police camps and implementation of environmental projects.

When he was congressman, he launched the program Green the Mountains Again. He established a nursery in Barangay Portic, Bugallon that supplied seedlings in his district-wide tree planting drive.

In August 2008, Environment Secretary Lito Atienza deputized Espino as Special Environment and Natural Resources Officer (Senro) for Pangasinan.

As deputized Senro, the governor is "authorized to manage, conserve, protect, and oversee all foreshore lands within the territorial jurisdiction of the province, with the power to enforce all pertinent national and local laws, rules and regulations governing foreshore areas."

He is also authorized "to apprehend or seize the tools, equipment, structures, and conveyances used in the commission of offenses to environmental law including all natural resources and/or products extracted/cut/gathered/removed and possessed by the offender(s) in the process of committing the offense."

In 1994, President Ramos declared Lingayen Gulf as environmentally critical. He formed the Lingayen Gulf Coastal Resource Management Commission (LGCAMC) by virtue of Executive Order (EO) 171 issued on April 20, 1994.

"Aside from developing the Lingayen Gulf, and its environs, there is a need to simultaneously address the developmental concerns of the surrounding coastal and non-coastal municipalities on matters of environmental protection, poverty alleviation, local autonomy, eco-tourism, and sustainable growth," the executive order stated.

"To enable the government to undertake measures to conserve the natural resources and promote the accelerated socio-economic development of the area consistent with the concept of sustainable development, there is a need to create a body that shall formulate short and long-term plans for the area covered herein, as well as, address certain policy, planning and implementation issues, and to effectively and efficiently implement the plan, as well as, to coordinate and integrate all environment and natural resources management of related government and non-government activities in the Lingayen Gulf area," it added.

LGCAMC was abolished on May 15, 2002.