AKLAN – The Aklan Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office (PENRO), along with the Tangalan local government unit (LGU), celebrated this year’s World Oceans Day by collecting underwater garbage.
Divers from PENRO and Tangalan LGU conducted “SCUBAsurero” in Coral Garden, Barangay Jawili, Tangalan town, on June 6.
“SCUBAsurero” is an underwater cleanup to reduce wastes entangled in coral reefs and lodged on the seabed.
The team collected a total of seven kilograms of waste, composed of fishnets, nylon, sacks, and PET bottles. Also collected were 10 crown-of-thorns starfish (COTS) considered as a problem damaging the coral reefs.
PENRO said since the area has COTS, the team agreed to closely monitor it. The Tangalan LGU, for its part, has committed to conducting a beach cleanup every third Saturday of the month.
“It may be one small act from PENRO Aklan but it has a bigger impact for the future. Cleaning our seabeds and clearing COTS in our coral reefs is one way to preserve our blue economy and the beauty that lies in our ocean floor,” said Department of Environment and Natural Resources Region 6 (DENR-6) Executive Director Raul L. Lorilla.
He added: “Let this be a reminder to all of us that our waste, whether big or small, might end up in our ocean, thus proper waste disposal is a must.”
The 2025 World Oceans Day has the theme “Wonder: Sustaining What Sustains Us.”/PN
