SUBMERGE TO THE DEPTHS
Since 2016, Metro Pacific Investments Corporation (MPIC) Foundation has been nurturing a Coral Restoration Field Laboratory in Brgy. Solo in Mabini, Batangas to help restore the marine ecosystem of the area. In the past two years, it has laid 12 modules that have provided valuable data to help in the flourishing of aquatic life in the barangay. And now, through its Shore It Up program, they received a donation of 40 ecoreef modules which will be installed in Balayan Bay, one of the country’s top scuba diving destinations. Eco-MER artificial reef units are made of marine concrete which has better larval attachment, higher survival rates of coral recruits, and wider niche range for higher species diversity, beyond any other commercial artificial reefs. The laboratory serves as an underwater work station for volunteer divers to study the fluid dynamics, study coral growth potential at Eco-MER units per depth and other scientific diving related to monitoring and coral restoration for Mabini.
Volunteer divers and local Bantay Dagat who will serve as technicians of the underwater laboratory were certified by the National Association of Underwater Instructors. Mooring buoys will also be installed in dive sites to prevent damage to corals caused by dropping of anchors.
Shore It Up has been held in key coastal areas such as Puerto Galera, Oriental Mindoro; the Subic Bay Freeport Zone; Hundred Islands National Park in Alaminos City, Pangasinan; Del Carmen in Siargao Island; Panglao and Pamilacan Islands in Bohol; Surigao City; Medina, Misamis Oriental; and Cordova, Cebu.
The Metro Pacific program is a recipient of the Public Relations Society of the Philippines’ Anvil Award of Merit for sustained environmental program for the environment from 2011 to 2016, as well as the Best Corporate Social Responsibility Program in the Corporate Governance Asia Award for 2017 and 2018.
To sustain these environmental undertakings, the foundation helped establish Mangrove Propagation and Information Centers in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao which can be located in Alaminos City, Pangasinan and Del Carmen, Siargao Island, Surigao del Norte, and the third in Cordova Cebu.
(043) 702 1466 | www.batangas.gov. ph| batangastourism@gmail.com