STEAG State Power Incorporated donated P250,000 in a bid to contribute to the development of the Macajalar Bay.
Jerome Soldevilla, Steag communications officer, noted that Steag has partnered with the Macajalar Bay Development Alliance (MBDA) and the 4th Infantry Division (4ID) to raise funds for the rehabilitation of the bay through organizing a golf tournament.
In 2013, the golf tournament raised P231,336 and increased to P253,728 in 2014.
In 2015, about P335,364 was collected through the golf tourney and in the succeeding year, the collection again increased to P408,350.
“We give half of the total amount to the development and projects of Macajalar Bay while the other half will go to 4ID to help its social and development efforts,” Soldevilla said.
Kris Galarrita, MBDA project manager, said they will use the amount to put up signages in the 25 marine protected areas along the Macajalar Bay.
She said this year, its team is also trying to harmonize and unify all policies and ordinances of the municipalities where the bay stretches.
“We only recognize 25 marine protected areas but actually, there are still other areas there that the people know are actually protected areas. With our partnership sa Steag, we ae positive that the remaining marine areas will be protected,” she said.
Galarrita added that its alliance is looking forward to partner with other organizations which can help take care of the 36 kilometer long bay.
Ghaye Alegrio, Communication Management Office head, vowed to continue its efforts and to look out for the good of Macajalar Bay.
“We are conducting assessments and monitoring to ensure that the temperature of the bay is not high while we operate. We want this partnership to be sustained and help educate the community to protect our environment,” she said.
“We always took note of what the bay is in store for our future generations. So when we started operating here, every month, our vessels coming from Indonesia to deliver coal, so at that time we did not know that there are some corals in the area, so we really had to change its route to avoid the corals,” she said.
“It was the first step to make sure that we are destroying what is in the Macalajar Bay,” she added.