The Scoop Basura activity recovered solid wastes found floating or at the bottom of the sea in Puerto Princesa City on Saturday, July 15, as part of the activities during the launching of Save Puerto Princesa Bay project of the city government.
The recovered solid wastes are mostly driftwoods, rubber tires, concrete floaters, fishing gears, ropes, plastic bags and other plastic packaging, and other debris weighing hundreds of kilos.
The City Government of Puerto Princesa conceptualized the Scoop Basura and hold the first activity last year during the Pacific Partnership 2022 in July last year.
It is a form of a competition among participating teams on who will recover loads of solid wastes from the coastlines within a period of two hours. They will be board on a banca and they will either dive to scavenged debris, or to just scoop floating plastic and other wastes.
Naval Special Operations Unit (NAVSOU) retrieved 213 kilos, while Oplan Linis program of the City Mayor’s Office gathered some 190kilos, and Philippine National Police Special Operations Unit-Maritime Group (PNP-SOU-MG) recovered 121 kilos.
Other participating agencies include 3rd Marine Brigade of the Philippine Marines, Philippine Coast Guard, Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, Bureau of Fire Protection, Philippine Coast Guard Auxiliary, and City ENRO Enforcement Division-Bantay Dagat.
Staff from the City ENRO- Environmental Management Services Division specifically some of the Waste Analysis and Characterization Studies (WACS) team tasked to classify solid wastes. The City ENRO’s WACS team were trained by the Clean Cities Blue Ocean (CCBO) project of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
Currently, Puerto Princesa is among the four engagement sites of the Clean Cities Blue Ocean (CCBO) project of the including Manila, Batangas and Iloilo. CCBO is engaging selected cities to stop the flow of plastic pollution to the waters within and surrounding the country.
CCBO is USAID’s flagship program to combat marine litter and to target ocean plastics directly at their source. They pilot solutions to stop the flow of plastic pollution to the waters within and surrounding the country, Manila Bay, including the Philippines Sulu and West Philippine Sea.
The Office of the City ENRO under the leadership of City ENR Officer Atty. Carlo B. Gomez has strengthened its collaboration with the USAID-CCBO in the conduct of various trainings workshops aimed to capacitate the local technical working group, update the City’s 10 year Solid Waste Management Plan, training on Social and Behavior Change Communication Plan, updating of SWM related ordinances and policies, among other interventions.
The recent bold steps undertaken by the city government to help save Puerto Princesa Bay has mobilized public support and participation in cleaning the city’s coastal waters. As the city residents are with high hopes that with cohesive efforts, they can achieve meaningful and sustainable impacts in restoring its coastal areas, bringing back its glory and pristine state for the future generations.