NCIP continues assistance to CL IPs amid pandemic
BALANGA (Chris Navarro)
OF SAN FERNANDO— The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) is calling on public support for the protection of the coastal waters and rich marine resources of Central Luzon.
The call is in support of the Month of the Ocean (MOO) celebration this May 2021.
DENR executive director Paquito Moreno, Jr., in a statement, said that conserving the healthy state of coastal areas and sustaining their abundant marine resources would be more achievable if local communities would partake in the mission to keep the water bodies in Central Luzon cl ean .
"Our collective effort can achieve more to protect and save our marine resources. Marine ecosystems are home to diverse and unique biodiversity, and serve as important source of food and livelihood to coastal communities," he said.
DENR records show that the region has a total coastal length of 630 kilometers, where coastal areas of Aurora and Zambales are teeming with marine life and r esou r ces.
Central Luzon is also the third largest aquaculture producer in the Philippines, statistics shows.
According to Donaver Guevarra, regional information officer of the DENR, the region has five coastal provinces, including Aurora, Bataan, Bulacan, Pampanga, and Zambales, which are rich in marine resou r ces.
"Five of the seven species of marine turtles are breeding and nesting in the coastal waters of Bataan, Zambales and Aurora, while species of giant clams, mesophotic coral species, large fishes such as the blue-spotted rabbitfish, and mangroves can also be found in the rich waters of Zambales," he said.
Guevarra added that coastal areas of Bulacan and Pampanga are also home to mangrove forests.
Moreno appealed to the public to protect marine life and important water bodies in the region by using fewer plastic products, recycling, disposing trash properly, and participating in mangrove planting and cleanup activities organized by the DENR, local government units and other organizations.
"These are actions we can do that will make a big difference for our water bodies. They may seem little, but when done collectively, they will create a significant impact in protecting our rivers, seas and oceans," he ended.
As part of the MOO celebration this year, the DENR will hold small scale mangrove planting and cleanup activities through its provincial and community offices.
Massive social media campaign and online biodiversity quiz competition will also be conducted to engage the public especially the youth in the protection and conservation of marine resources.
The DENR here has likewise scheduled a learning event on Biodiversity Assessment and Monitoring System for its technical personnel in the regional and field offices.
MOO is annually celebrated on the month of May by virtue of Presidential Proclamation No. 57 issued in 1999 to raise public awareness on the protection of marine waters from degradation.
This year, the theme, "The Science We Need for the Ocean We Want," is inspired by the United Nation’s Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development. It centers on recognizing the role of science, as well as the contributions of recognized scientists, in the protection and conservation of the ocean and other water bodies.
CITY -- National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) is continuously rolling out programs to cater to the needs of Central Luzon Indigenous Peoples (IP) communities in terms of health, livelihood and education amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
NCIP Regional Director Roland Calde said that such help is being given to IP communities through coordinating activities with Department of Social Welfare and Development, community midwives and nurses as well as other partner agen ci es.
“We conducted medical missions, distributed relief goods to quarantined IP communities in Pampanga and Zambales, distributed 90 cavans of rice to Floridablanca IPs also in Pampanga, distributed 5,000 hygiene kits to identified IP volunteers, and assisted 20 locally stranded individuals from Zambales and Mindanao for the Balik Probinsya Program in coordination with their respective local government units and the Armed Forces of the Philippines,” the official shared during the Regional Conference for Peace and Development (RCPD).
For education, NCIP also has an Educational
Assistance Program and Merit-based Scholarship Program in which financial assistance and scholarship grants are given to deserving IPs that seek opportunity for quality education and skills development. It currently has 351 beneficiaries in Central Luzon.
Relative to this, Calde seeks the help of other government agencies to create more programs that will benefit the IPs so that they can improve their lives and contribute to national development.
“I hope that all agencies can have programs supporting our IP communities, hence they can be part of our national development wherein no one will be left behind,” he furthered.
The RCPD is a regional multi-sectoral assembly that seeks to formalize the submission of a peace and development agenda for Central Luzon which may also serve as inputs to the President’s State of the Nation Address.
Set to be held in various parts of the country, it is being organized by the Sectoral Unification, Capacity-Building, Empowerment and Mobilization Cluster of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict.