Boracay Island Water Company (BIWC), one of the operating units of Manila Water in the Visayas region, takes part in investing in the planet through its Coral REEFhabilitation Program. In partnership with Malay LGU, Boracay Foundation, Inc. and Boracay Business Scuba Diving Schools, the company is involved in coral reef planting and assessment, beach and underwater cleanup, and running educational campaigns. To date, the Coral REEFhabilitation Program has planted 121 corals and collected 501 kilograms of underwater garbage.
Coral REEFhabilitation is part of BIWC’s larger environmental management initiative called Highland to Ocean (H2O) which ensures the wholistic preservation of the island’s watershed down to its ocean waters. H20 is set to be adopted by the Municipality of Malay as its environmental umbrella program.
Meanwhile, Boracay General Manager Bryan Magallanes said that as the sustainability partner of Boracay Island, Boracay Water guarantees its stakeholders the preservation and protection of the marine life by treating the island’s wastewater to DENR Class SB Standards. On top of that, BIWC spearheads different activities like watershed management, beach and underwater cleanup drives, coral reef planting and assessment, and information education drive to ensure the protection of our island and maintain its world class condition.
“Marine life plays a vital role in the world as it serves as the primary producer of our food, medicines, and natural protection in reducing climate change. One of the ways by which we invest in marine life is by protecting our coral reefs”, Magallanes explained.
Magallanes also added that coral reef planting is like planting trees in the watershed and that the only difference is that corals are animals called polyps and they are planted in areas where corals are scarce or degraded.
Boracay Water’s coral reef environmental initiative is one of the major contributions of BIWC in the overall environmental sustainability platform of the Manila Water enterprise.