Pangasinan river clean-up drive to be featured on national TV Nov 24
LINGAYEN—Pangasinan’s “IlogKo, Aroen Tan Bilayen Ko” environmental protection campaign will be featured on national television on November 24, 10 a.m. over Studio 23’s “Business: How It Works show”.
The segment was filmed by a team led by Director Buddy Gancenia that visited the capital town on November 11-14 to gather information and take shots of the program initiated by Governor Amado T. Espino, Jr.
After knowing how the project implementation started, the director remarked, “Kitang-kita naman talaga ang difference — far from the ill-fated state of the river before the clean-up.”
The governor, who was personally interviewed by the show host at the Banaga Bridge area in Bugallon town, said fishing is the major industry of Pangasinan which he believes will remain as an agricultural province in the next decades.
It is therefore compelling to bring back the natural form of the Agno River with the teeming abundance of varieties of fishes to help the marginalized fisherfolks, he added.
He narrated how the provincial government encountered a strong resistance in the initial implementation of the project but eventually, Pangasinenses realized the noble cause of “what we are doing.”
The project, which started in 2009 along with the creation of Task Force Kalikasan, brought massive transformation of the Agno river system and its tributaries. A series of dismantling operations of illegal fishing structures were done along with the extensive dredging of silts from the riverbeds.
The dismantling operations brought back the natural beauty and grandeur of the rivers while the dredging of silt, which made the rivers deeper, serves as long-term flood mitigation of the province.
In recognition to the sustainable project implementation, various agricultural awards were conferred to the province, which included: DENR Likas Yaman award, TOFARM 2012 (The Outstanding Farmers of the Philippines) national award and Gawad Pagkilala award for fishery conservation.
Bugallon Mayor Jumel Espino, along with some barangay captains and officials of the town and from Lingayen were also present during the filming.
The seeding of about 13,500 bangus and tilapia fingerlings was also done in the Agno River in Banaga, Bugallon as part of the fish stock program of the provincial government.
The team also visited barangays Dupo and Salapingao in Binmaley town to get some idea on how the dredged silt was innovatively used in building a new road link and a bridge which connects the island barangays.
Meanwhile, Lingayen’s “Bagoong Industry” will also be featured in the “How To Do” segment of the show. (PIO/Mark Gerry Naval Oblanca)
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