PILAR, Bataan – The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR)-Bataan joins the nation in celebration of Earth Day, with the theme “Green the cities, Green the oceans.” A simple thanksgiving mass was held at their office.
According to Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Officer (PENRO) Mr. Raymond Rivera, the homily was very appropriate for everybody especially for them at the DENR, wherein the priest stated, “We are the stakeholders of Mother Earth, that we must cease being tolerant of environmental abuse and that we must have strict compliance of environmental laws.”
With this year’s theme on Earth Day celebration, Rivera explained that DENR wants to emphasize to focus more on solid waste management, that at this point, we must be aware on how to discipline oneself in our solid waste problem, that segregation of biodegradable and non-biodegradable is a must, that we must be very serious in banning the use of plastics in all forms because it is one of the biggest threats to our marine life.
“Do we know, Rivera added, that there are at least 8 million tons of plastic that end up in the ocean, that many sea turtles, fish and other marine life ingest and cause their death, while in recent researches, fishes caught in the oceans have shown traces of plastic in their meat that we eat?”
Simple activities in different municipalities, in celebration of Earth Day has been on-going according to PENRO Rivera like coastal clean-up for our coastal municipalities, cleaning of roads to get rid of plastic rubbish, others have participated in accelerating the citizenry in reforestation, while for DENR-Bataan, more on information dissemination thru seminars, group activities in conserving energy and popularizing lifestyle that will enable the country to reduce its carbon foot print and enhance its resilience.
Rivera also appealed to the citizens that we need to care for mother earth not only today but for the next generation, that Earth day celebration is every day, everywhere and for everybody
