Padilla: Parang beach cleanup ‘superficial’, should instead be baranggay efforts

A little girl cries as she sits on the beach with some rubbish brought in by high tide. – MWBuzzpic by ALFREDO P HERNANDEZ

By ALFREDO P HERNANDEZ

MAYOR Ricarte Padilla has described the recent effort to cleanup the beach of Parang as “superficial” and “something only for a show” and not one that could be sustained.

Padilla expressed his dismay in a remark during the Jose Panganiban National High School’s grand alumni homecoming on Saturday, April 28, 2012.

He said although the daylong cleanup involved several baranggay units at the poblacion with participation of residents along the shoreline, the efforts were “superficial” intended for a show only, and appeared to be just a “ningas-cogon affair”.

The recent cleanup, which was spearheaded by the JPNHS Alumni Association (JPNHSAA), has removed about 90 per cent of rubbish that used to carpet the entire length of the shoreline on the day the cleanup was carried out.

Observers had described the effort as a “hit-and-run” effort, which left the beach on its own after a daylong cleanup exercise.

Balikbayans who saw the beach long before the first-and-only cleanup took place were saddened by its appalling condition and immediately heaped the blame of neglect on the households, most of them squatter families, along the shore.

Padilla said that all along, he has batted for baranggay-level efforts to cleanup the beach in Parang, starting with massive awareness drive among the shoreline households that have been long-suspected of being the source of the rubbish.

He earlier said that the beach cleanup should be a part of an overall sustained environmental protection efforts for the benefit of the present and future generations.

He said he will meet with baranggay leaders of coastal communities to discuss strategies to avoid dumping of rubbish on the shoreline.

“Marami po sa kanila ang mismo nagbabaon ng basura sa tabing dagat sa kagustuhang maitago ang mga ito … pero pagdating ho ng high tide, eh nakakalkal din ang mga ito at ikinakalat sa tabing-dagat,” Padila observed.

However, residents along Parang beach told MWBuzz that although they may be guilty of throwing rubbish on the beach, the municipal government should also run after households in baranggays along the shoreline such as Larap, Pag-asa, Calero, Osmena and Bagong-bayan.

“Nililinis din naman po naming ang tabing-dagat, pero pagta-ib ng dagat, dala po nito ang mga basura na galling sa ibang baranggay na naiiwan sa tabing dagat pagkati ng tubig (we also do a cleanup, but at high tide the water carries with it rubbish from other coastal baranggays and leaves it on the beach when it withdraws…), a coastal resident in Parang told MWBuzz.

A survey made by MWBuzz along the beach of Parang revealed that there have been new heaps of rubbish that had been brought in during recent high tide that usually occurred at night.

The online news outlet had also witnessed a mother looking after her child who was defecating along the beach.

 Fresh rubbish debris are carried to the shore by high tide. – MWBuzzpic by ALFREDO P HERNANDEZ