Puerto Princesa City went “luau” as it celebrated the 17th “Love Affair with Nature” on Thursday, highlighted by the mass wedding of 69 couples officiated by Mayor Lucilo Bayron.
The event at Sitio Tagbarungis, Inagawan Subcolony is an annual tradition involving the planting of mangrove and beach forest tree seedlings.
The youngest couple was 18 and 25 while the oldest was 58 and 59 year olds.
The mangrove planting was attended by different sectors from the schools, police, Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) members and the Western Command (WESCOM).
Atty. Carlo Gomez, City Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO) chief, said 4,700 propagules were prepared for the planting activity in a two-hectare coastal site in Sitio Tagbarungis, Inagawan Subcolony.
Bayron said the people should see the importance of preserving the city’s mangrove forest.
“Ang bakawan (mangrove forest) ay mahalaga para sa atin at sa [ating] mga salinlahi. Ang bakawan ay bahay-tirahan ng iba’t-ibang buhay-ilang, ng mga ibon, insekto, mga animals, at ng mga yamang-dagat. Ito [rin] ay nursery o palakihan ng mga isda at iba pang mga buhay-ilang,” Bayron said.