Villar Leads Manila Bay Clean-up

In consonance with the forthcoming Earth Day celebration, Team PNoy senatorial candidate Cynthia Villar yesterday led the clean-up drive at Manila Bay in the Las Pinas-Paranaque Critical Habitat & Eco-Tourism (LPPCHEA), which was recently included in the Ramsar List of Wetlands of International Importance, an intergovernmental treaty on the conservation and sustainable use of natural resources.

“We have to care and protect our environment. We have to repay Mother Earth for providing us all the necessary materials we need to survive,” stressed Villar.

The clean-up activity at Manila Bay which started 7 am yesterday, Villar said, is their simple way of saying “thank you,” and “demonstrating our love to Mother Earth.” However, she stressed that “caring and loving” our environment should not only be done during the Earth Day celebration.

“Everyday of our lives, we should all strive to protect Mother Earth,’ said Villar who has earned the moniker “Misis HanepBuhay” for giving jobs to Filipinos.

Villar was joined by students and volunteers from various sectors in last Friday’s clean-up activity, which was followed by a tour along the stretch of LPPCHEA aboard a banca around 7:30 a.m. The activity ended with a boodle fight, also led by Villar. The three-term Las Pinas congresswoman said she feels happy with the improvement at the LPPCHEA since there are lesser garbage being collected.

“We can attribute this to our consistent clean-up efforts,” said Villar. The Villar Foundation, where she sits as Managing Director, together with students and other volunteers, also conduct weekly cleanups. “The more partners we work with, the better it will be for the environment,” she said.

The Villar Foundation had earlier inked a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) with Manila Broadcasting Company (MBC) represented by radio station DZRH in its Manila Bay Cleanup drive.

“The Villar Foundation and DZRH agree that this is not only a joint cooperative undertaking, but more importantly, it is a major public service activity that would help contribute to the promotion of a livable, healthier and ecological sustainable Manila Bay,” read the MoA.

Villar noted there is more reason to protect the 175-hectare LPPCHEA area after it was listed in Ramsar along with the world-renowned Tubbataha Reefs National Marine Park and the Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park (Underground River), both found in the Philippines.

"Ramsar has recognized LPPCHEA’s global importance to biodiversity and the need to give it special protection from various threats,” said Villar, adding that LPPCHEA is the so-called 'last bastion' in Metro Manila.

Based on Proclamation No. 1412, LPPCHEA is a critical habitat because to its global importance to biodiversity. It is a habitat for the survival of threatened, restricted-range and congregatory species.

But despite being a critical habitat, Villar lamented it faces threats of being reclaimed. In opposing the planned reclamation, Villar, a strong environmental advocate, noted that taking care of our environment will save us from disasters and calamities.

She maintains calamities would further burden the already poor Filipinos who are facing various problems due to difficult times.

Disasters like flooding, Villar said, can make one poorer if his properties are destroyed.

To avoid worst scenarios, Villar, who has earned the moniker “Misis Hanep Buhay” for giving jobs to Filipinos, underscored the need to clean our rivers, our creeks and other bodies of water especially Manila Bay.

“We can simply help protect the environment by not throwing our garbage into the sea, the rivers, the creeks. If we resort to indiscriminate throwing of garbages, these wastes will return to us during floodings. The garbages that we throw also caused massive floods,” warned Villar.