Save our seas

OVER the last two years, we have been seeing a gradual transition in the Pista’y Dayat every May 1 into a festivity that is more focused on environmental awareness.

The Pista’y Dayat, perfectly-timed in the midst of summer and falls on a non-working holiday with the global observance of Labor Day, has traditionally been celebrated by the people as a day for beach picnics and soaking in the sea.

Now, the provincial government has been organizing events that are trained towards increasing the people’s consciousness about the need to look beyond our sea treasures — the beach, water, reefs, and all living creatures in them — as mere objects of enjoyment as well as a source of livelihood which, sadly, have long been subjected to abuse.

Aside from the Banca Parada, the cleanest river competition, writing and drawing contests, and camp for kids, among others, the Limgas pageant has also been raised into a more meaningful beauty competition with the winning queen to be designated as the ambassadress for the province’s environmental awareness campaign.

The effort of the provincial government, led by Governor Amado Espino Jr., is indeed commendable and desperately needed by Pangasinan which has long been a victim of neglect in terms of environmental conservation. But the work has just begun.

Still, the government at the provincial, city and municipal levels are clearly helpless over the many threats to our seas, primarily the blatant pollution of our waters and the unceasing practice of dynamite fishing.

A big case in point is the continued pollution of the Tondaligan Beach in Dagupan by the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology where the culprit is an agency of the government itself and the rest of the concerned agencies seemingly in no hurry to address this nagging situation.

Ongoing efforts need to be doubled, tripled even, if the local government truly wants to save our seas. The two crucial factors in achieving this goal is (1) cooperation among all sectors – the people in the community, government and non-government agencies, and the private sector – and (2) the political will of our elected officials to push for significant changes in the way we use and care for the gifts of Mother Nature.

And the time is now.

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