Governance Innovations! UN Cites PH Coastal Program ‘Malinis, Masaganang Karagatan’

I woke up to a blessed and happy Easter Sunday with a pleasant and inspiring news that the United Nations has cited the Philippine Coastal Management Program “Malinis at Masaganang Karagatan” as one of the models as the world meets for the 2022 Ocean Conference in Lisbon, Portugal.

This lifts my spirit because MMK, one of the banner programs of President Rodrigo Duterte and which was launched by the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) in 2016, was a program which I personally conceptualized and designed to encourage coastal communities in the country to clean and protect their coastal areas.

After seeing the degradation of the coastal areas in my travels around the country, I presented the MMK concept to BFAR National Director Eduardo Gongona.

Supported by coastal management experts and technical staff, Gongona and BFAR worked on the details and sourced funds for the program.

This is a yearly competition among coastal communities which offers financial rewards to Local Government Units starting from P2-M for provincial winners, P5-M for Regional Champions and P30-M for the National Champion.

The criteria in selecting the winners are:

1. The Coastal Town Must Have a declared Marine Sanctuary;

2. There Must Be a Mangrove Replanting and Protection Program;

3. There Must Be a 3-Month Closed Fishing Season to allow fish to spawn;

4. There must be no incidence of illegal fishing;

5. The coastal area must be free of trash and garbage.

In the first national competition, the town of Cortes, Surigao del Sur was adjudged National Champion with Palompon, Leyte and Calatagan, Batangas as first and second runner-ups.

The awarding was made in Malacanang with President Duterte personally giving out the trophies and cash prizes to the winners.

This program is now institutionalized and every coastal town in the country look forward to the staging of MMK every year because the awards have become the source of pride for the officials and the people and the huge cash prizes could boost the livelihood of the fisherfolk in the community.

Ang MMK ay isa sa mga naisip ko na governance innovations to protect our coastal areas because I know that Filipinos love competition.

As the creator of the program, I am deeply honored that it is now recognized as one of the Coastal Management Best Practices by the United Nations Ocean Conference.

I share this honor with the hardworking workers and officials of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources and the Department of Agriculture, along with the local government units and the fisherfolk communities who eagerly supported the MMK.

#InnovationsInGovernance!

#KungGustoMaramingParaan!