By Raymart Escopel
ILOILO City – To recognize its stakeholders’ roles in the implementation of its environmental programs and activities, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Region 6 held an awarding ceremony on June 28.
The event also served as the culmination of the Environment Month celebration in June.
Among the awardees were the “adopters” in the Adopt-an-Estero/Waterbody program, a flagship project of the DENR which aims to improve water quality in rivers and smaller bodies of water around the Philippines.
In Western Visayas, the project is spearheaded by the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB). Iloilo and Batiano rivers were the adopted water bodies.
“These adopters did their part in the removal of solid wastes in esteros, rivers and other bodies of water, thus helping in the improvement of water quality,” said Atty. Jonathan Bulos, EMB-6 regional director.
Aside from the adopters, local government units (LGUs) with the cleanest and greenest municipalities were recognized during the culminating event.
“The LGUs were judged based on the assessment of the Department of Interior and Local Government in terms on their implementation of Solid Waste Management Programs,” Bulos explained.
Non-government agencies (NGAs) and the media were also awarded for their support to the programs and activities held by DENR-6 as part of the Environment Month celebration.
Panay News is one of the awarded entities during the program “for its invaluable support to Information, Education and Communication (IEC) program of the DENR by publishing relevant environmental news articles, which helped increase the level of awareness and encouraging readers’ support to the environmental and natural resources programs and projects.”
DENR-Regional Director Jim Sampulna said that the awarding ceremony is his department’s way of recognizing and thanking its partners who made the celebration of the Environment Month successful./PN
