Tacurongnons and Mana’s bit for Earth Day: Limpyo Kalog 2012 (Feature)

The morning of April 21 gave me chills. I wasn’t sure if it was just because of the cold weather, or maybe my longing for my youngest sister’s hug ‘cause it’s her birthday yet she’s not home, or maybe the side effect of a number of nights that I had an over time in the office, or maybe just the cold weather.

Amidst the freezing temperature, I managed to get up my bed and take a bath (which I don’t normally do back in college – which is normal in our University, haha).

I had no choice because that day was Tacurong’s scheduled date for the celebration of Earth Day. Tacurongnons responded to the United Nations call for the whole world to try to save the Earth every 22^nd of April only that we celebrated it a day in advance.

 Why save our planet Earth you ask? It is because we do not want our home to spew us out of its comforts and let us suffer the consequences of our sinful acts towards our environment.

It is not obscure to us how we pollute and obliterate our home, I believe. Most importantly, it is not abstract to us either how we can heal the problems that we ourselves brought.

So instead of cursing the cold Saturday morning, I thanked the Lord for hiding Mr. Sun’s rays for it made the day suitable for the Tacurongnons’ way of celebrating the Earth Day. Through the initiative of Hon. Psyche Sucaldito, the Committee Chairman on Environment, Social Services, Beautification, Cleanliness and Sanitation, Limpyo Kalog once again became possible on its fourth year.

Limpyo Kalog summons responsible Tacurongnons to join clean the water ways within the city. It is a fresh and a new group effort approach of the city because the participants come from the different sectors and organizations of Tacurong.

Everyone, never minding their societal status, painstakingly remove the litters, garbage, or anything that restricts the water from flowing in the drainage canal.

As I looked around the beautiful picture of this Tacurongnon’s community service, a little girl caught my attention.

Mary Natalie S. Ampunan, “Mana” to her family and friends, is not really a Tacurongnon for she’s only spending her vacation here with her extended family. She actually came from Iloilo City. However, at the age of eight, she was already introduced to the importance of her little ways to alleviate and address the pressing environmental issues in her generation. Her Aunt, Hon. Psyche Sucaldito vigilantly guided her as she participated in Limpyo Kalog 2012.

Mana personally described this undertaking as a “beautiful deed” for her environment. According to her, Limpyo Kalog, which is one way of cleaning the environment, has a huge impact to the restoration of our deteriorating homeland.

And to strengthen the will of everyone to sustain the good works for our environment, Mana, along with Tacurongnons, signed the poster where they wrote their pledges to be able to reach the goal of one billion acts of green. Some pledged to plant trees, clean the surroundings, conserve energy, etc. while Mana simply, but seriously pledged to recycle her own wastes.

The cold Saturday morning was filled with the warmth of the people’s desires to uplift the awareness and appreciation of the Earth's natural environment by offering their time and efforts to Limpyo Kalog 2012. Surely, these desires will keep on burning in their hearts and they will all help sustain these kinds of undertakings in the City of Tacurong.

And as I embraced the cold weather, I thanked the Lord for giving us a home to love, to respect, and to protect. (Jessa Billano)