The municipality of E. B. Magalona, through the Municipal Environment and Natural Resources Office (MENRO), conducted several activities in the coastal barangay of Tomongtong Feb. 5, in celebration of the World Wetlands Day 2025, on the theme “Protecting Wetlands for Our Common Future”.
About 300 participants from various organizations joined the coastal cleanup in Barangay Tomongtong and planted 300 mangrove seedlings at the Tomongtong Mangrove Eco-Trail, MENRO-designate Jojo Vargas said.
The DENR-CENRO of Bago City, headed by CENR officer Roseviel Dematulac, also conducted a Dalaw-Turo program in the barangay, an engaging information and education campaign aimed at raising awareness about the importance of wetlands and mangroves in environmental conservation.
The participants are personnel from DENR-CENRO Bago, pupils of Tomongtong Elementary School and Jose M. Consing Memorial School, barangay officials of Tomongtong, barangay health workers, tanods, and officers and members of the Tomongtong Women Workers’ Association.
It can be recalled that the municipality, under the leadership of Mayor Marvin Malacon, had received three awards for wetlands conservation at the 2024 EcoLuminaries: Abanse Negrense Awards in December.
These were Top 2 – Excellence in Wetlands Conservation, Best in People-Centered EcoTourism, and EcoChampions Leadership Award for Vargas, a press release from the municipal government said.
Meanwhile, 28 Saraviahanon couples also planted 1,000 mangrove seedlings at the Tomongtong Mangrove Eco-Trail recently, as a requirement for their Valentine mass wedding that will be officiated by Malacon on Feb. 14 at the public plaza.
Before the mangrove-planting, the couples attended an orientation on waste segregation at home and on the importance of mangroves in coastal protection, conducted by Vargas.
The pre-wedding activities were spearheaded by the Local Civil Registrar’s Office, headed by Mercedes Recla, and MENRO.
This is now the 9th year that Valentine mass wedding couples are required to plant mangrove seedlings before their wedding, Vargas said.
By joining these activities, the couples express their shared commitment and responsibility to protecting the environment, he added. ||
