QUEZON CITY, (PIA) --The Metropolitan Environmental Office-North under the regional office of the  Department of Environment & Natural Resources in the National Capital Region teamed up with the City Environmental Management Department (CEMD) of Caloocan City in cleaning a portion of Camarin Creek that has been swamped with plastic debris on Friday, 21 January 2022.

The cleanup was led by CEMD Assistant Deputies Robert Tolentino (North Caloocan) and Sammy Leono (South Caloocan) with the participation of Environmental Police, Street Sweeper, Estero Rangers of DENR National Capital Region, and officials and staff of Barangays 177 and 178, Caloocan City.

The portion of Camarin Creek where the cleanup was conducted covers Barangays 177 and 178 of Caloocan City but, in its entirety, the waterway extends up to Barangays 172, 173, and 175, also in Caloocan City, where it merges with Marilao River up north.

The team collected a total of two hundred fifty (250) sacks of waste composed mostly of discarded plastic packaging materials. After the activity, the team also put up a sign advising the public to refrain from throwing their household waste into the waterway and to comply with Republic Act No. 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000.

DENR National Capital Region, through its Manila Bay Site Coordinating Management Office (MBSCMO) and MEO North, installed a trash trap in the same creek late last year to prevent wastes from reaching Manila Bay through the Marilao-Meycauyan-Obando (MMO) River System.

The installation of trash traps and the conduct of regular cleanups is part of the ongoing rehabilitation and cleanup of Manila Bay and its tributaries. (DENR NCR/PIA-NCR)