Crusade to save Parang beach and Mambulao Bay gets support

Taken in May 2006, this is a picture of the Osmena beach on the outskirts of Jose Panganiban where the bay water was still clear and reflecting clearly the blue skies. It had become a favorite swimming area for local people. Nowadays, the water here has been affected by the indiscriminate gold panning activities along the nearby shore, where the muddy, waste water from the panning operations is being dumped into the sea. – Photo by AP Hernandez

TWO natives of Mambulao are supporting a crusade to rehabilitate the Parang beach and the Mambulao Bay, which have become victims of community waste pollution.

The Parang beach, which is just a stone’s throw away from the poblacion, has been inundated by household rubbish.

Hundreds of makeshift houses, most of them owned by migrant squatters, line the entire length of the shore. Most of the households have no proper toilets or waste disposal facilities.

The beach’s entire length has been carpeted by all sorts of waste matters that include human feces.

The water of Mambulao Bay has become brownish as a result of indiscriminate gold-panning operations along the shoreline.

Gold-panners and small-scale gold processors are practically dumping their waste water and mud into the bay waters, causing siltation at the bottom of the bay.

This is one reason the shoreline water next to the town hall has become brownish and the beach itself muddy.

Tony Tatom, in a reaction to MWBuzz story “Can we still rescue the Mambulao Bay and Parang beach?” carried in the second edition of this newsletter, has proposed a beach clean-up that would involve the students from the Jose Panganiban National High School.

Now holidaying in New Zealand, Tatom said that led by the school principal, the students could comb the entire length of the beach for all sort of rubbish, which could be done on a weekend as part of their academic extra-curricular activities.

Migrant squatter shanties along the Parang beach ... biggest contributors to the beach pollution.

The exercise should be led by the principal, he suggested.

Tatom, who hailed from Larap, said that a batch year of the JPNHS alumni who would be attending the general alumni homecoming next April should agree to do a day-long clean-up of the beach.

This could be made part of community-focused activities of the alumni homecoming.

“With the number of attendees to possibly participate, there will be thousands of hands to pick up the rubbish and burn it if its allowed.”

Tatom further wrote: “I presume care and importance of the environment is also touched in school.

“This youth action will probably serve as an eye opener for the mayor, who in a year or two would need the votes of these students.”

On the other hand, MWBuzz reader who is identified only as “bertnelmow” said: In my own opinion, cleaning it (beach) may just be a small step and would take a very long time unless it would result to getting out more rubbish as compared to the rubbish being put in by our kababayan.

“Our municipal government might need to look or study how Palawan has continuously implement rules and guidelines to protect, develop and conserve its natural resources.

bertnelmow said that “if it is "suicidal" to regulate or restrict the activities of gold panners, then they should at least be made to pay for the destruction they are doing to the environment.

“They should be made responsible for the development and conservation of Mambulao Bay,” he said.

bertnelmow said that the people of Mambulao are now more aware of what is happening to our nature recently, so I think this will gain support from our kababayan.

“It just needs to be started somewhere and somehow,” he concluded.

-By AP HERNANDEZ