Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Earth Hour 2011 in Subic Bay

Bebsie's Chicken together with Lighthouse Marina along with hundreds of millions of concerned individuals around the world showed their support and concern for the environment by switching off our lights for one hour at exactly 8:30pm. The objective was to showcase what can be done through our combined efforts, to encourage leadership through behavioral change and to demonstrate the growing desire around the world to make those changes a reality.
The atmosphere during the Earth Hour was very intimate and relaxed. Everyone cheered as we did the countdown to the switch off. At exactly 8:30pm, all the exterior lights of the hotel were switched off including the 20-meter lighthouse tower. It is noteworthy to mention that the electricity that we were able to save for an hour was enough to power 25 small houses for a day. Lighthouse has always been working on ways to promote awareness for the environment. That evening, the hotel announced its Go Green Program, which included going into alternative, renewable and nonpolluting source of energy that is the sun. In fact, a few seconds after the switch off, Solar Powered lights provided by Banda Solar illuminated the whole event area. Solar power is just one of the many plans that Lighthouse will be implementing this year. Furthermore, the hotel will also dramatically reduce its plastic consumption thus reducing plastic waste. One of the goals of this program is to increase the level of awareness and encourage our guests to take action to save the environment. The hotel guests were treated with a special grill and pasta buffet and some unplugged entertainment such as fire dancers and musicians from Baguio and Manila.

Besides the Earth Hour Celebration, the Lighthouse had several other activities that weekend. There was an art exhibit that shows junks or trash converted to an art, a beach clean up, and a film viewing showing two documentary films about the environment ("The 11th Hour" and "Six Degrees that Could Change the World"). While it is true that our environment is in grave danger, what is more consequential is that the survival of the entire human race is in jeopardy. Our planet has all the time in the world to regenerate, and we don't. The Ecofest weekend was not just about the environment nor the planet. It was meant to encourage people to act now before its too late.

If human beings are the source of the problem, we can also be the foundation of the solution. We believe that our generation is capable of completely changing this world. During this critical period of human history, healing the damage of industrial civilization is the task of our generation. It was awe-inspiring to see a lot of children during the Earth Hour. This event was primarily for the welfare of the future generations. We will need to pass the torch one day, and these kids should continue what we have started. The event was ended by an invitation made by the General Manager of Subic Bay power provider, Subic Enerzone, to light up the sky lanterns as a symbol of our active participation in saving the environment and to fight climate change. Unfortunately it was too windy that night and only a few lanterns were able to fly. Nevertheless, everyone had a great time. Thank you to all who participated. We hope to see you again in the next Earth Hour. Please stay tuned as Lighthouse announces its plans for the upcoming Earth Day!

Thank you to our sponsors: Subic Enerzone, National Geographic Channel, Banda Solar, SBMA Ecology, Volvo, United Auctioneers, Bebsie's Chicken, Grand Pillar International, Tai Chi Massage, Nai Cha, Century 21 and Circuit 9 Car Rental.

Proceeds amounting to Php 10,000 will be donated to WWF.

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

2011 R - 010 - AUTHORIZING THE CITY MAYOR TO NEGOTIATE A LOAN CONTRACT WITH THE DBP IN THE AMOUNT OF PHP300,000,000.00

EXCERPTS FROM THE MINUTES OF THE REGULAR SESSION OF THE SANGGUNIANG PANLUNGSOD OF OLONGAPO, HELD ON FEBRUARY 16, 2011 AT THE CITY HALL.

PRESENT:

Hon. Rolen C. Paulino -- - City Vice & Presiding Officer
Hon. Rodel S. Cerezo -- - City Councilor
Hon. Eyrma Yvette Marzan- Estrella - - “ “
Hon. Aquilino Y. Cortez, Jr. -- “ “
Hon. Gina Gulanes-Perez - - “ “
Hon. Elena C. Dabu -- - “ “
Hon. Eduardo J. Piano -- - “ “
Hon. Edna A. Elane - - - - “ “
Hon. Noel E. Atienza -- “ “
Hon. Sarah Lucerna Lipumano-Garcia - - “ “
Hon. Carlito A. Baloy - - President, Liga ng mga Barangay
Hon. Dolly Mae M. Ramos -- SK Federation President

ABSENT:

Hon. James G. Delos Reyes - - - -- City Councilor

RESOLUTION NO. 10
(Series of 2011)

A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE HON. CITY MAYOR JAMES BONG GORDON, JR. TO NEGOTIATE A LOAN CONTRACT WITH THE DEVELOPMENT BANK OF THE PHILIPPINES (DPB) IN THE AMOUNT OF THREE HUNDRED MILLION PESOS (PHP300,000,000.00), AND SECURE THE BEST POSSIBLE TERMS FOR THE SANITARY LANDFILL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM, IN A MANNER COMPLAINT WITH PERTINENT LAWS

WHEREAS, Republic Act No. 9003 (RA 9003), otherwise known as the ‘Solid Waste Management Act of 2000’ mandates all Local Government Units to establish and develop a Sanitary Landfill Facility which is deemed as an indispensable component of a genuine efforts towards enhancing environmental protection, conservation and maintaining ecological balance;

WHEREAS, Ra 9003 requires all LGU’s to divert twenty-five percent (25%) of all solid waste to waste disposal system or a Sanitary Landfill with its complementing components of a Material Recovery Facility (MRF) and a Buy-back center which is key to recycling efforts, which shall be augmented by education to the citizenry and local institutions;

WHEREAS, a Sanitary Landfill Development Program shall ensure and facilitate the utilization of environmentally-sound methods that maximize and encourage resource conservation and recovery;

WHEREAS, a Sanitary Landfill Development Program is long-term looking and beneficial to both the City present and future generations as it would cause immense environmental and health benefits to local communities, serve as an impetus to generate livelihood through the recycling industry, and is clearly both long-term looking, would outweigh immediate-term costs incurred, and would help preserve the current low costs of garbage collection and the City’s sanitation initiatives;

WHEREAS, the development of a Sanitary Landfill Facility involves a long-term process of studies, and groundwork initiatives and mustering enough technical and financial resources;

WHEREAS, even prior to the passage of RA 9003, the City has already undertaken to lay the groundwork for the development of a proper solid waste management facility which includes, among others, the conduct of an Urban environment and Solid Waste management Study conducted under the direction and administration of the World Bank covering the periods of from 1993 to 1995;

WHEREAS, the City’s subsequent initiatives to lay the groundwork for the development of a Sanitary Landfill Facility after the passage of RA 9003, the most notable of which include, among others: (a) improvement of solid waste containerization Program; (b) a feasibility study to ensure that what would be under taken is the most viable means of developing the facility without compromising the City’s order equally important and pressing social services; (c) as required in the City’s application for an Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) with respect to the development of the required solid waste management facility, it has undertaken an environmental examination, information and education campaign; (d) coordinate with, and requested, a geological scoping survey from the Mines and Geosciences Bureau; (e) competed the engineering geological and geo-hazard assessment report; (f) submitted the required environmental examination report to the Environment Management Bureau (EMB) for screening ; (g) made submissions of the required documents pertinent to the ECC-application to the EMB; (h) submitted the existing controlled dumpsite facility to EMB inspection and evaluation; (i) submitted to EMB for evaluation of its ECC application pertinent to the requirements under RA 9003; and its (j) Compost-Reuse-Reduce-Recycle (CR3) initiative;

WHEREAS, the City’s Environment Sanitation Management Office (ESMO) has already met with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) EMB for a technical coordination to ensure that safety nets are duly considered and ensure such as, but not limited to: (a) prevention of permeation of waste elements to soil; (b) prevention of waste seeping to nearby water system; and (c) ensuring that the Programs complies with all legal safety requisites and shall therefore be made subject to close monitoring by the DENR;

WHEREAS, other than the legal necessity for the City to endeavor in a Sanitary Landfill Development Program, other the practical necessity to endeavor in the said Program by reason of the fact that initial closure orders have been sent initially to thirty-two (32) Mayors and would be sent to eight hundred twenty-six (826) jurisdictions in sixty-eighth (68) provinces with open and controlled dumpsites, and other than the pressing need to avert the closure of our own dumpsites which will force us to plead and contract with other compliant jurisdictions to accept our solid wastes for a substantial fee, other than the need to protect the City’s constituents from the shouldering skyrocketing garbage costs which would be brought about by the closure of our dumpsite which shall be affected by the DENR should the City fail to endeavor in a Sanitary Landfill Development Program, the City’s inter-generational responsibility to the present and future generations to maintain ecological balance and environmental conservation require that the City secure the necessary funding, for the full implementation of RA9003;

WHEREAS, the needed investment to give reality to the Sanitary Landfill Development Program under RA 9003, with its complementing components of a Central MRF and a Buy-back Center, necessitate that the City generate funds, exclusive of equity, which as per the pertinent study would cost Three Hundred Million Pesos (PHP 300,000,000.00), which is indispensable in averting a potential garbage crisis;

WHEREAS, as per DBP eligibility evaluation, the City and its Sanitary Land fill Development Program is eligible for its DBP-Environmental Development Program which, in turn, could facilitate the implementation of the Sanitary Landfill Development Program with DBP which has been the City’s long-time partner in its development Programs;

NOW, THEREFORE, on motion of City Councilor Gina Gulanes-Perez, with the unanimous accord of the Members of Sangguniang Panlungsod present,

RESOLVED, AS IT HEREBY RESOLVED, by the Sangguniang Panlunsod in session assembled, to authorize, as it hereby authorizes the Hon. City Mayor James Bong Gordon, Jr. to negotiate a loan contract with the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) in the amount of three hundred million Pesos (PHP 300,000,000.00), and secure the best possible terms for the Sanitary Landfill Development Program, in a manner compliant with patient laws.

Let copies of this resolution be furnished to the Office of the City Mayor, the City Treasurer’s office, the concerned Development Council and the Development Bank of the Philippines.

APPROVED UNANIMOUSLY, February 16, 2011.

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Wednesday, October 27, 2010

4,000 Subic volunteers join Int’l Coastal Clean-Up Day

By FRANCO G. REGALA - philippinestodayus.com

SUBIC BAY FREEPORT – Close to 4,000 residents, employees, students, and some visitors in this free port joined this year’s coastal clean-up drive here that was undertaken in support of the International Coastal Clean-Up Day and in connection with an international study on the global problem of marine trash.

The cleanup, which was held at the two-kilometer beachfront along the Waterfront Road here on Saturday, was spearheaded by the Lighthouse Marina Resort (LMR) in coordination with the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA).

The activity was also supported by the International Yachting Fellowship of Rotarians, Rotary Club of Cubao West, Philippine Marketing Association ofZambales, Moonbay Marina Complex, Subic Bay Freeport Chamber of Commerce, Greater Subic Bay Tourism Bureau, and Ideal Niche Business Solutions.

SBMA administrator Armand Arreza said the marine trash monitoring activity will help policy makers draw better solutions to the problem on marine trash, with the recorded data going to Ocean Conservancy, a non-stock, non-profit organization founded in 1972 to identify global marine threats.

He added that the clean-up drive “is a manifestation of SBMA support to activities that aim to protect and conserve the environment, particularly to keep Subic Bay free of pollution.”

A total of 3,927 volunteers scoured the stretch of the beach here, armed with sticks and trash bags to pick up litters and trash along the way.

Some local divers also collected trash in the bay, bringing to shore mostly plastic materials washed into the bay through various tributary rivers.

LMR resident manager Argee Gomez, who coordinated the event, said that the project forms part of efforts by Subic stakeholders to reduce trash and other debris at the Subic’s beachfront, which is one of the most prominent and visited areas inside the free port.

“It is imperative that a pro-active, continuous and sustainable clean-up program be put in place here,” Gomez said, pointing out that Subic Bay is considered the biggest natural asset of the of the free port.

In last Saturday’s event, Gomez said that the 3,927 volunteers in Subic collected a total of 6,075 kilos of trash from collections made in the beach clean-up and underwater dives.

In 2009, Gomez added, some 74,500 volunteers from 60 provinces collected a total of 327,345 kilos of garbage from activities that covered a total of 2,427 kilometers of beaches.

Among the worldwide participants that year, the Philippines ranked second to the United States, which had a total of 218,799 volunteers.

The International Coastal Clean-up Day started in 1986 in Texas and is being observed every third Saturday of September each year.

Aside from the clean-up drive, the Subic activity also included a public forum on conservation, climate change and waste management.

Organizers also put up a photo contest that covered the actual clean-up drive, and an exhibit of photos taken during last year’s clean-up drive.

Friday, October 22, 2010

Resolutions objecting to coal plant in subic bay

2010 R - 105 - A RESOLUTION REITERATING OLONGAPO CITY’S OBJECTION TO COAL-FIRED POWER PLANTS AS AN ENERGY SOURCE AND URGING THE PROPONENT TO CONSIDER SAFER ALTERNATIVE SOURCES OF ENERGY FOR SUBIC BAY.

http://savesubicbay.blogspot.com/2008/08/2008-r-131-expressing-city-government.html

http://savesubicbay.blogspot.com/2007/02/2007-res-no-12-inviting-ms-amethya-de.html

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Save my Bay PHOTO CONTEST

Contest Mechanics

The contest is open to both amateur and professional photographers.

  • Photos must have been taken during the competition period.
  • Participants may use any DSLR or Digital Camera.
  • Creative effects done within the camera at the time of exposure e.g. multiple exposures, flash fill, lighting, filtration, etc. are allowed.
  • 5 entries are to be submitted “of the camera” per participants, only soft copy are allowed to be submitted.
  • The competition will be held on September 25, 2010 from 6am to 11am with in the boardwalk up to Lighthouse Marina Resort coast line

Registration

  • Registration fee Php300 (part of the proceeds will go to Ocean Conservancy)
  • Loot bags will be given away on the competition.
  • Participants can register at the event proper or for pre-registration call/txt 0932-376-6800 look for David.

Submission of Entries

All entries should be submitted on or before 12 noon of the said event. 5 soft copy from each photographers Memory cards are to be submitted at the registration booth.

Prizes at Stake

1st - An overnight stay at an Aqua Suite at Lighthouse Marina Resort with breakfast and dinner

2nd – 2 hour sunset cruise over Subic Bay

3rd – Dinner for Two worth Php 2,000 at Sands Restaurant

Main Judge of the competition will be Jo Avila ( a renowned Photographer ), apart from judging the photo Jo Avila will hand pic a few photos and will work his post process magic, photos will be shown on the awarding night.

Awarding

It will be held the night of September 25, 2010 at 7 pm, venue will be at The Lighthouse Marina Resort

All entries become the property of Subictimes.com & Lighthouse Marina Resort, which will have the right to reproduce, exhibit, or publish the images for promotional purposes, indicating/acknowledging the photographer. Subictimes.com and Lighthouse Marina Resort may display the prints in a public venue, or publish them for the purpose of promoting International Coastal Cleanup, without any financial compensation to the photographers.

Monday, August 23, 2010

Save our rivers... Save Subic Bay

  • TMAC posted this in Yahoo Answers... Its a wake-up call

    "I find Olongapo, a boring city.
    For a city that prides itself on tourism, you see garbage and human waste dumped into the rivers and Ocean... the same Rivers and Ocean that they fish out of and expect the tourist to go swim and scuba diving in..."

    To be brutally frank about it... the above statement is TRUE.

    And we are not doing anything substantial about it. Panay palabas at propaganda lang, walang tunay na nagkakaisang pagkilos.

    Everyone should be involved, it will take a lot of hardwork, money and political will to accomplish this.... but we can not continue to look the other way... if we love our children and grandchildren and care for the future... WE MUST ACT NOW!!!
    over a year ago · Delete Post
  • I hope that when the PHP90M dredging/vactor equipments arrive next month, that it be the symbol of our unified action to start a concerted effort to stop and eventually reverse the deterioration of our waterways.

    The Subic Bay Waterways Council should be immediately convened and plan of action and strategies to save our rivers and Subic Bay be in place.

    The next election should focus its efforts on stopping the trash from reaching our waterways... and put an end to the usual trash political gimmickry.
    over a year ago · Delete Post
  • I totally agree with what you said Sir Ed. Our local government and NGO's should work together in order to help our City's major problem [i.e. basura, employment, out of school youth projects. and to have information/knowledge on whats really happening in our hometown and what our local politician is doing about it.
    over a year ago ·
    · Report · Delete Post
  • I agree.. Dapat mag simula sa taas pababa ang pag babago. Mag sisimula sa mamayan ng olongapoi mag mula sa namumuno at matatanda para tuluran at maisagawa ang nararapat para sa ating lunsod. Ang isang magulang na pabaya sa kaniyang sarili na may masamang gawain at ang kanilang sarili ay di maayos ay mahihirapan mag disiplina ng kanyang anak..

Sunday, August 22, 2010

Save the Trees in SUBIC BAY: SOS from the Philippines

This group is scheduled to be archived... so for posterity, i'm copying it here

An Inquirer report said it best "...another case of a foreigner trying to trample on our laws and our government allows them to do it"

Should the government allow these foreigners to cut down 360 trees(60-100 yrs old) in Subic to pave the way for a Casino - this is literally GAMBLING with the local and global ENVIRONMENT!

Let's show them that the world has eyes, and that there are people and organizations that will NOT ALLOW environmental degradation ANYWHERE on this planet.

Please post your SUBIC PHOTOS here to remind everyone of what can be lost. Don't forget to tag your friends!

Cheers!

Cec Phils We invite you to nominate individuals or organizations whose efforts to protect the environment and the people's rights are a good example for others.

Acceptance of nominations for the Gawad Bayani ng Kalikasan 2011 is open until midnight of July 15, 2011. Guidelines, awards requirements and nominations forms are available for download at http://www.cecphils.org/gawad-bayani-ng-kalikasan.