More than just an underwater cleanup: MVP Group revisits Alaminos, Pangasinan

MANILA, Philippines - The MVP Group of Companies, headed by Metro Pacific Investments Corporation (MPIC), continues to take an active role in society and environmental conservation through its Shore It Up (SIU) project, which is currently on its fifth year. In celebration of the various achievements that they’ve made, Shore It Up has been revisiting its  project sites, one of which has expanded to all the coastal towns along the Lingayen Gulf in Pangasinan.

SIU goes back to Pangasinan

Leaving at the first crack of dawn for its four-hour trip to the north, the team was warmly welcomed by a drum and bugle corps for its first stop in Alaminos to rearrange the giant clams in Hunderd Islands. The congestion of giant clams can cause stress and contamination that may hinder their development, requiring divers to move them at least one square meter apart and give each giant clam enough breathing space.

The 1,884-hectare Hundred Islands National Park (HINP) is the first marine reserve park proclaimed in the country in 1940 and is now the biggest marine sanctuary. It serves as a home to more than 420 marine species, a refuge to the now endangered fruit bats and marine turtles, and an adoptive home of rare migratory and indigenous birds. Having more than 7,000 giant clams, HINP now bears the distinction of being the giant clam garden of Asia.

This resulted in the rescue of 200 giant clams in Hundred Islands, with the Alaminos team finding 140 new breeds of giant clams, after Shore It Up moved it in 2011.  

With still enough energy for the day, the SIU team headed to Barangay Bued to attend the launch of a two-story infrastructure, which will be called the Mangrove Propagation Information Center, and proceeded to complete the planting of 1,000 mangroves.

Melody del Rosario, Vice President of Metro Pacific Investments Corporation, shares, “From our first visit in 2011, we instantly marveled at the beauty of the islands, its clear waters and friendly, receptive people. With 120 volunteer divers, we moved giant taklobos from contaminating each other, planted 350 mangroves in the barangay of Bued, cleaned the shores of one of the barangays of Alaminos City and provided 50 schoolchildren with bags and school supplies. Seeing the encouraging response from the LGU and communities, we realized we wanted to do something more significant if we were given another chance.”

As Pangasinan is the only region in the country with a mangrove nursery, Shore It Up is proud to see that it has already produced 400,000 seedlings, prompting for the simultaneous planting of mangroves in Alaminos (650 mangroves by SIU) and Bolinao (1,500 mangroves). The MPIC mangrove center in Bued will be the second one in Pangasinan.

Mayor Arthur Celeste is immensely grateful for MPIC’s efforts in Alaminos stating, “The Local Government Unit fully appreciates the inclusion of the Hundred Islands National Park in this noble undertaking. The activity attests your enthusiasm and hard work in taking initiatives for the protection and conservation of our environment. The people of Alaminos will be forever thankful for this worthy endeavor and we are optimistic that this will pave the way for bringing back the glitter and wonders of the city’s premier haven. With our concerted efforts, we can establish heightened awareness for the general public on environmental issues and be able to work hand-in-hand to bring back ecological balance.”

Biggest number of volunteers

The next day saw another meaningful community engagement through a simultaneous coastal cleanup involving around 30,000 volunteers, 14 coastal towns and cities of Pangasinan, which included Lingayen, Bolinao, Anda, Bani, Burgos, Dasol, Agno, Infanta, Sual, Labrador, Binmaley, San Fabian, Alaminos City, and Dagupan City. With various multi-sectoral groups and the provincial government of Pangasinan, the biggest environmental campaign, by far, was undertaken to enlarge and intensify the Save Lingayen Gulf (SLING-UP) program of Governor Amado Espino, Jr.

Manuel V. Pangilinan, chairman of Metro Pacific Investments Corporation is very happy about Shore It Up’s continuous efforts to protect local marine life, “Our continuous quest and common purpose to heighten awareness and promote stewardship of our ecosystem have brought us together this day. Much has yet to be done and issues such as marine debris, overfishing, and alternative livelihood need to be resolved. We hope that our partnership through Shore It Up may continue to leave a meaningful imprint in our lives for the benefit of children.”

Held in Island Tropics Resort in Alaminos City, Pangasinan last October 25 to 26, the two-day event was packed with various activities, which centered on volunteerism, environment conservation, and education.
Looking forward to engaging more volunteers in its future projects, Shore It Up is now set on bringing its goodwill to the shores of Siargao, which is another popular marine destination in the Philippines.

About Shore It Up

Carrying the tagline, “Rescue, Restore, Revive”, the project started out in Anilao back in 2009, then went on to benefit more provincial destinations, namely Puerto Galera (2010), Hundred Islands (2011), Subic (2012), and just recently, Lingayen.

As the Philippines is proudly composed of 7,107 islands, it also boasts of a 36,289-kilometer coastline, ranking fourth among the top 10 countries with the longest coastlines in the world. The country is also at the apex of the six countries in the Coral Triangle, which is considered to be “the center of marine biodiversity” in the world. As such, the country serves as an area of refuge for many marine species.

However, there continues to be a threat in our abundant marine life as recent studies and explorations show that there has been a dramatic decline in local marine species due to exploitation, pollution, habitat destruction, and climate change. Recognizing this ordeal, MPIC Foundation has made it its mission to attract attention to this predicament to make the public more aware of these threats to our marine biodiversity.

Together with various local government units and agencies, MPIC Foundation’s Shore It Up is geared towards promoting sustainable development, preservation, and conservation of the country’s diverse and rich marine resources to help mitigate the increasingly destructive effects of climate change.

Rescue. Restore. Revive.

Operating based on these three principles—Shore It Up actively engages in the rescuing of giant clams (taklobos) and corals (crown of thorns), as well as coastal cleanups, underwater cleanups, artificial reefs, tree planting activities, making use of proper waste disposal systems, putting up eco-friendly infrastructures like mangrove information centers, and improving school facilities. All these efforts are geared toward fulfilling its mission of protecting the environment.

In addition to these, effective information dissemination is also key in the promotion of Shore It Up’s advocacies, and as such, it engages in various educational projects, like its Junior Environmental Scouts.