SOME 300 volunteers showed up to help clean the Butuanon River in Mandaue City, the starting point of a region-wide campaign to clean up 10 priority rivers in Central Visayas that started on Friday, Feb. 22.
Led by DENR 7 Director Gilbert Gonzales, the volunteers picked up garbage and debris in some parts of the Butuanon River for an hour starting at 6:30 a.m.
Most the volunteers were government employees, police officers, soldiers, students and workers from various private establishments in Mandaue City.
Gonzales said the clean-up drive was a response to the call of Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu during the International River Summit held in Cebu in November last year.
During the 4th International River Summit, Cimatu challenged all Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) directors to clean up polluted river systems or lose their positions.
“We have to raise awareness on the need to protect and conserve the country’s rivers as the lifeblood of the Earth and human civilization; to tap concerted action to protect the country’s rivers from degradation and pollution and assure their suitability, sustainability and further improvement for their designated use or classifcation and others,” Gonzales said.
Department of Tourism (DOT) 7 Director Shahlimar Tamano, who also joined the activity, said the river clean-up was one way of promoting sustainable tourism in the region.
A clean-up was also held at the Luyang River in Carmen town and today, hundreds are expected to help clean the Bulacao River in Cebu City.
Other priority rivers are in Bohol, Siquijor and Negros Oriental.
Gonzales said the 10 priority rivers were classified as Class C, or rivers where people can still fish.
Class B rivers are those where people can bathe while Class A rivers are those whose water is safe for drinking.
Gonzales said there are at least 500 rivers in Central Visayas.
Every month, a massive clean-up will be held in coordination with local government units in all rivers in the region.
Gonzales said they will start deputizing 500 Clean and Green personnel assigned in the barangays who are authorized to issue citation tickets to individuals and companies caught dumping garbage and other wastes in river systems within their jurisdiction.
In Mandaue City, many residents vowed to continue the clean-up to ensure that the Butuanon River and other river systems in the city will be clean again.
Ibabao Estancia Barangay Captain Romulo Echavez Jr., who was present during the clean-up drive, said that aside from enforcers assigned at the Mandaue City Environment and Natural Resources Office (MCENRO), they also hired four personnel to serve as Clean and Green workers who will guard and clean some parts of the Butuanon River.
The three-kilometer stretch of the Butuanon River is within the jurisdiction of Barangays Ibabao Estancia, Alang-alang, Paknaan and Umapad.
David Rondina, 11, and Mechaella Abatayo, 12, both students of the Opao Elementary School, said they will continue to participate in the river clean-up activities.
“Even if they can’t participate in the clean-up drive, kids can always do their share by not throwing their wastes in the river,” Abatayo said. (From FMD of Superbalita Cebu/JKV)