Macajalar Bay Coastal Cleanup is an annual bay-wide activity jointly led by Macajalar Bay Development Alliance (MBDA) and Xavier University – McKeough Marine Center (XU-MMC) since 2012. This year, Ridge-to-Reef (R2R) young leaders joined the team as partner volunteer, with their expertise in information, education, and communication (IEC).
Participants in this year’s cleanup included coastal barangays from 14 LGU members of MBDA (Laguindingan, Alubijid, El Salvador, Opol, Cagayan de Oro, Tagoloan, Villanueva, Jasaan, Balingasag, Lagonglong, Salay, Binuangan, Sugbongcogon, Kinoguitan) and partner national government agencies such as Philippine National Police Regional Maritime Unit 10, Philippine Coast Guard, and Department of Environment and Natural Resources X, to name a few.
The MBDA program management office, R2R young leaders, and the Xavier Ateneo community (XU-MMC, Biology Department, Marine Biology alumni, Ateneo Mountaineering Society, Nature Crusaders, and Biophilic Society) joined LGU Tagoloan at Barangay Baluarte.
The XU administration cluster members (Green Campus Agenda, Physical Plant Office, and Global Pro Personnel), XU Grade School Pueblo and Macasandig faculty and staff, and XU Junior High School Science Department faculty and students also participated in the activity at Barangay Bulua, Cagayan de Oro.
The celebration of International Coastal Cleanup Day (ICC) was initiated by Ocean Conservancy (a US-based non-governmental organization) in 1986 and institutionalized in the Philippines in 2003 through Presidential Proclamation 470.
ICC, held every 3rd Saturday of September, is the largest volunteer effort for our oceans. People around the world come together and remove trash from coasts. Besides the latter, it aims to actually identify and record trash collected.
The celebration targets to raise awareness and accountability on the severity of coastal and marine pollution, particularly plastic, consequently evoking behavioral change among the stakeholders.
In Macajalar Bay, specifically, results will be valuable in lobbying policies and improving solid waste programs of the LGUs.
Data from previous cleanups consistently show plastic materials being the top waste collected.
In a 2015 study published by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Philippines ranked third in the list of top sources of plastic pollution in the world’s oceans.
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