by Franklin P.
Gumapon
DAPITAN CITY, May 9
(PIA) - - Some 150 barangay folks, Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) personnel and
maritime police participated in a forum on climate change held at the Barangay
Hall of Barangay San Vicente in this city this morning.
Coastal and Marine
Management Division (CMMD) Chief Neneth Ordoño of the Department of Environment
and Natural Resources (DENR)-IX discussed the things and human activities that
contribute to climate change.
Ordoño cited that
burning our waste harms the environment because of the carbon dioxide which
contributes to the warming of the planet.
The CMMD chief also
presented the cleanup program pursued by the DENR such as coastal cleanup,
underwater cleanup, water surface cleanup and waterways cleanup.
Cleanup activities
are presently conducted nationwide in support of the ocean month celebration starting
May1-31.
“May is observed
annually as the Philippine month of the ocean by virtue of Presidential
Proclamation No. 57 issued in 1999 by President Joseph E. Estrada,” she said.
Ordoño underscored
the need to care for the ocean as “this is the key regulator of global
climate.”
In the Philippines,
“70 percent of the country’s municipalities are located in coastal areas.
Coastal fishing activities contribute about 60 percent of the country’s fish
catch, and the fisheries sector employs over a million Filipinos,” Ordoño
pointed out.
“This necessitates
everybody to get involved in protecting our seas and to participate in cleanup
activities to preserve our marine resources,” she stressed. (FPG/PIA-Zamboanga
del Norte)
