DAVAO ORIENTAL – In celebration of this year World Water Day, volunteers from the Provincial Government and partner agencies gathered together at the Mati Creek in the City of Mati to clear out trash.

With a theme “Hawak Kamay, Tubig Kaagapay”, the participants joined hands in clearing the garbage dumped in one of the city’s important waterways as they hope to raise awareness among the people in the community the importance of taking care of these waterways.

Various types garbage has been collected, which include plastics, tree trunks, bamboo poles and other household wastes.

Lead by the Environment and Natural Resources Office (ENRO) of the Province of Davao Oriental, the synchronized activity had participants started to clean-up drive at the Mati Creek Bridge down to Purok-1, Liberty Beach (Bucana), Barangay Central, Mati City, Davao Oriental.

Alberto M. Bandiola, Head of DENR-PENRO, who was among the lead persons during the said activity, reminded the residents that there will be legal charges against those who are dumping garbage in the waterways. “They will be punished with accordance by the law,” he said.

He added that cleaning-up and safeguarding the environment is not a sole responsibility of one agency but is a duty of everyone, especially the residents.

In accordance with the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNECED), a part of Agenda 21, every March 22 is the celebration of World Water Day to give importance of the world’s water resources. By Keven Mutia (DOSCST Intern)/Photos by Eden Jhan Licayan