Silent Modern Day Heroes of Manila Bay

Videos of garbage thrown ashore by the storm surge at the Manila Bay went viral after heavy rains occured in the morning of August 11, 2018 (Saturday) in Manila. Similar to the Roxas Boulevard coverted into a ‘stream of garbage,’ comments about environmental issues flooded the feeds of social media.

Top comments in social media suggested that the waters made it easier to collect the garbage, and most especially, it showed Mother Nature’s wrath towards the uncaring human beings.

In spite of the uncaring individuals towards the environment, there are still some people who have sympathy towards Mother Nature, and instill that there is hope in bringing Manila Bay back to life.

Landbank’s Manila Bay Clean Up in celebration of their 55th anniversary was scheduled on the same day, alongside other activities such as constructing ecochairs from ecobricks, assembling rescue boats made of PET bottles, and the making of Mabuhay balls. Unfortunately, they were constrained to cancel the event for the safety and security of the volunteers.

Despite the strong rain and waves, there are brave volunteers that opted to stay and contribute their time and efforts, and collected trash that were washed up along the Baywalk by the strong waves. Others also chose to continue with the activities such as Ecobrick making, Mabuhay balls making, and assembling rescue boats made of PET bottles.