The local government unit of the Island Garden City of Samal (IGaCoS) headed by Mayor Al David Uy expressed its gratitude to the Innerwheel Club of Parañaque City for launching the first reefbud project in IGaCoS this year.
Speaking on the LGU’s behalf, Barangay Captain Loreto B. Alberto said that the club headed by President Ann Margaret San Antonio, who happened to be national secretary of Innerwheel International Club of the Philippines, brought about 20 club members to install about a dozen reefbuds in the waters of barangay Balet, IGaCoS as part of its effort to rehabilitate the natural coral reefs of the barangay and improve the area’s ecosystem as one of the known top driving sites of the island city.
Ms San Antonio, who owns a beach resort in Balet, brought along no less than Benjamin “Benjie” Tayag Jr., who invented the award-winning reefbuds concept with a now deceased Austrian scientist, and Dr. Amelia V. Jarin, current president of the Innerwheel Club of the Philippines.
The reefbuds concept has been tested in the diving destinations of Boracay Island where the group of former senator and now Rep. Loren Legarda deployed thousands of reefbuds.
Barangay Capt. Alberto bared that the Innerwheel Club of Parañaque has embraced Balet as its adopted barangay whose residents have been recipients of the club’s periodic humanitarian services, like medical-dental mission and occasional gift-giving activities.
Ms San Antonio’s club has likewise launched livelihood projects in the barangay.
The 13 reef bud units will just be a portion of the 100 units which the club has programmed for deployment in the diving destination and fishing ground just around the scenic Ligid Island fronting barangay Balet.
The club has invited business firms and big corporate groups to join the club to fund the deployment of more reef buds in the area.
AMA
