The Message In the Bottle

Patar, Bolinao taken May 2018
There's this point in our life where we kinda want to escape "adulting" and just be away from all the buzzes of work life. If we are from Benguet, a few hours drive to the tip of Pangasinan would be very ideal. Here's where Bolinao steals the limelight.

It says in the internet, Bolinao is North's Boracay, aside from Pagudpod in Ilocos Norte. I remember visiting this place back in the 90's. Everywhere you set your eyes on, you'd just say, "Wow!". Mangroves or bakawan were all over the place. You'd see different colored fish swimming around your feet in the shallow waters. The sands looked like night sky with all the starfish and shells scattered. Early morning was like a dream; with all the bio-luminiscent planktons that made the shore glow. It was enchanting.

So, fast forward to May 2018. It was an exciting long drive to Patar. When I strolled to the shore, it was- disappointing. I wanted to email DENR Sec. Roy Cimatu at once. It was dirty. The beach was full of trash. And there were a lot of structures very near the water. It was a heartbreak for me. I didn't swim. I felt bad. I just thought of taking pictures of the trash and thought of what I can do to make people aware of this present condition.

Maybe, some, if not all, of our beaches are polluted already because of plastic culture. But it doesn't end there. It's about our self-discipline- of collecting our own trash and putting it in the proper place.

Also, the closing of Boracay is a wake-up call to all of us, especially to our government. What measures have we taken as individuals to reduce our garbage that end up in landfills? Do we segregate? Do we reuse and recycle? Do we have our own compost pits for organic wastes? What measures has the government taken in arresting these problems? Are there MRFs (Materials Recycling Facility) in every barangay? Are the garbage that end up in landfills reduced? Or our trash killing us slowly?

This is the message in the bottle. We are experiencing a slow death. And it is painful. Have we thought of our future? Our children's future? When we throw a tiny piece of candy wrapper on the street, or drink irresponsibly on the beach with wine bottles left, do we honestly think that someone will clean up our mess? No, my friend. Let us get rid of this mentality fellow Filipinos. Let us stop killing our environment. Let us not be an addition to the problem.


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