About 500 volunteers took part in the clean-up activity along the coast of BarangayTondaligan in Dagupan City held Friday, April 26, 2019, as part of the local celebration of Earth Day.

The beach clean-up, spearheaded by the Environmental Management Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in Region 1, in partnership with the localgovernment of DagupanCity, sought to intensify public awareness on the proper management of garbage, particularly plastics.

EMB Region 1 Director Maria DoricaNaz-Hipe expressed gratitude to the volunteers from various government agencies and private companies and other stakeholders for joining the clean-up event. She encouraged the public to support the DENR and LGU Dagupan City in properly managing solid wastes by segregating garbage at source, religiously practicing the 3 Rs – reduce, reuse and recycle, and composting their biodegradable wastes which can be used as soil conditioners.

“The Tondaligan Beach is one of the most popular and beautiful bathing beaches here in Region I, so we should work together to protect it,” Hipe said.

A total of 96 trash bags and sacks of residual wastes were collected, consisting mostly of plastic food wrappers, cigarette butts and glass bottles.

EMB-I organizes clean-up drives in popular bathing beaches and rivers in the Ilocos Region in accordance with the top priority programs of DENR Secretary Roy A. Cimatu, which include Clean Air, Clean Water and Solid Waste Management. ###