SBMA, BJMP sign MOA for Adopt-A-Mangrove Program

The Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) and the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA)  for the Adopt-A-Mangrove Program at the corporate boardroom of the administration building here on March 12, 2026.

The MOA, which was signed between SBMA Chairman and Administrator Eduardo Jose L. Aliño and BJMP Regional Office 3 (BJMPRO3) Regional Director, Jail Chief Superintendent (JCSupt) Paulino H. Moreno Jr., stipulates the development of approximately 400 square meters of mangrove area within Subic Bay Freeport. 

Aliño explained that under the MOA, SBMA will designate an area within the SBFZ mangrove forest to be adopted by BJMPRO3. Mangrove seedlings from the agency’s Mangrove Nursery will also be provided. He added that SBMA will monitor and evaluate the adopted area annually.

“And after completing the three-year program, SBMA will award BJMPRO3 with a Certificate of Completion upon turnover of the area to SBMA,” he added.

Meanwhile, JCSupt Moreno assured that BJMPRO3 personnel will plant at least 100 seedlings and ensure the survival of the planted mangrove propagules in the SBMA-designated area. 

He also said that BJMPRO3 personnel will conduct regular cleanup activities, provide adequate manpower, and hand over the area to SBMA after three years.

SBMA Ecology Center OIC Rossell L. Abuyo and BJMPPO Zambales Provincial Jail Administrator JSupt. Ferdinand G. Malabo witnessed the signing of the MOA along with other officials from the SBMA and BJMP.

Subic Bay Freeport Zone hosts approximately 61 to 65 hectares of protected mangrove forests, primarily in areas such as Triboa Bay, Binictican, and Malawaan. 

These areas serve as crucial coastal protection, wildlife habitats, and ecotourism sites, with ongoing conservation efforts, including tree planting and rehabilitation, conducted by the SBMA Ecology Center and its partners. (MPD-SBMA) 

Read More

SBMA celebrates week-long Subic Bay Arbor Day 2025

The Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) kicked off its week-long celebration of Subic Bay Arbor Day 2025 with the opening ceremony held at the Harbor Point Ayala Mall Promenade on Monday, June 23.

Dubbed “Kanian Tiawan, Kanian Biag, Kanian Biay,” in Ayta Ambala dialect, or “Our Forest, Our Home, Our Life” in English, the week-long celebration started on June 23 and will end on June 27.

SBMA Chief-of-Staff Atty. Von F. Rodriguez, Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Zambales Provincial Director Enrique D. Tacbad, joined SBMA Ecology Center OIC Rossell L. Abuyo during the ribbon-cutting ceremony to formally open the series of events.

The Subic Bay Arbor Day features an expo at the Harbor Point Ayala Mall from June 23 to 27. Additionally, a Bamboo Nursery will be launched at the El Kabayo forest area on June 24, and Tiawon Talks will host online lectures on June 26.

Other events include the Carbon Mo Capture Mo Photography Contest on June 27, and the Magtanum Kitamo Arbor Day tree planting activity at the Mulawin-Bayakan Reforestation Site on June 27.

Speaking on behalf of SBMA Chairman and Administrator Eduardo Jose L. Aliño, Chief of Staff Rodriguez said that the agency is taking vital steps to achieve a carbon-neutral zone here in Subic Bay Freeport. He added that the agency is holding the annual event diligently to ensure that the environment here is well taken care of.

Subic Bay Freeport boasts a well-preserved natural environment, offering a scenic backdrop for businesses and a place where nature and productivity intersect. The area is naturally sheltered from typhoons due to its mountain ranges and deep harbor.

The SBMA is actively engaged in environmental management, including waste management and conservation efforts. (MPD-SBMA) 

Read More

Subic Bay Freeport stakeholders, SBMA employees join Arbor Day 2022

Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) employees join workers, residents, officials and executives from different locators inside the Freeport zone as they participate in the tree planting, forest clean-up and wildlings collection activity as part of the annual Arbor Day celebration held July 5.

Magtanum kitamo: Subic Bay’s Artbor Day, D-Day is this year’s Arbor Day celebration organized by the SBMA Ecology Center where Subic Bay Freeport locators, residents, SBMA departments and employees, particularly environmental officers, pollution control officers and managers enjoined. 

Dubbed as “Bi-ayang Chawon Year 2,” Arbor Day aims to highlight the values of trees and forests, and to educate and encourage the Freeport stakeholders to take care of these important natural resources.

“Bi-ayang Chawon means to continue doing the activities that would improve environmental awareness, re-introduce activities that would aid in the conservation and protection of the forests, and promote camaraderie among the stakeholders,” SBMA Ecology Center manager Amethya Dela Llana explained.

The celebration commenced with Panimula, a virtual opening ceremony on June 20 and ended with Pagpapatuloy, its virtual closing on July 4.

Online lecture series, social media posts and exhibits, and a tree-planting activity highlighted the three-week event. First of which was Chawon: An online Lecture Series” from June 22 to 24.

Also #TREEnding featured (1) weekly social media posts about the SBF forest and/or trivia about trees; (2) a two-week photo exhibit at the Harbor Point Ayala Mall showcasing SBMA’s Arbor Day celebrations and reforestation efforts; (3) a three-day trade fair featuring concessionaires of organic, eco-friendly and/or educational products that will run from June 22 to 24; and (4) a photo contest where participants were asked to post a photo of them or their group participating in the activities during the Subic Bay’s Arbor Day, D-Day on June 30, 2022.

Finally, Magtanum kitamo: Subic Bay’s Arbor Day, D-Day on June 30, participants took part in a tree planting at the SBMA’s reforestation site, collected wildlings at Pamulaklakin Forest, and cleanup El Kabayo Forest.

Meanwhile, SBMA chairman and administrator Rolen C. Paulino disclosed that the said activities area part of the bigger plan to make Subic attractive to foreign and local investors who would want to make it happen in the Philippines and find it practical to invest in Subic. 

Arbor Day is observed every June 25. During the peak of the pandemic, Arbor Day was observed thru online activities. (MPD-SBMA)

Read More

Subic volunteers plant 5,600 trees on Arbor Day

More than 1,300 volunteers planted about 5,600 seedlings of various fruit trees here in Subic Bay Freeport during the Arbor Day Celebration organized by the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) on Friday, June 24.

Spearheaded by the SBMA Ecology Center, the tree-planting activity was conducted at the Pastolan Ayta village in this freeport.

The seedlings planted were mostly local species like cashew, calamansi, coconut, santol, pomelo, and kaong, which are endemic in the area and therefore beneficial even to local wildlife.

SBMA Chairman Roberto Garcia, who also joined the event, stressed that with the number of seedlings planted, about six orchards have been established that will soon provide additional sources of food and livelihood for the Ambala Ayta tribe living near the tree-planting sites.

Aside from SBMA employees, who made up the bulk of the volunteers, workers from locator-companies in the Subic Freeport, students, members of the Philippine Coast Guard, the local police, Boy Scouts, and some Olongapo officials joined the activity.

Most of the volunteers had earlier joined another SBMA activity during the Earth Day celebration last April that saw more than 500 representatives from various groups in the Subic community collecting talisay seedlings and mangrove saplings and planting them at the Apaliin Mangrove Trail at the former ​Naval ​Magazine area here.

Last Friday’s Arbor Day celebration started with a breakfast treat for participants at the SBMA administration building, followed by a hundred-vehicle motorcade to Pastolan village for the actual tree-planting.

Now celebrated worldwide, Arbor Day was founded in the Spanish village of Mondoñedo where the first arbor plantation festival in the world was documented in 1594. In 1805, another small Spanish village named Villanueva de la Sierra held the first modern Arbor Day, an initiative launched by the local priest with the enthusiastic support of the entire population.

Arbor Day in the Philippines was institutionalized in 1947 through Proclamation No. 30, which called for a nationwide observation of the event by planting trees and ornamental plants and other forms of relevant activities. In 2012, Republic Act 10176 was passed, which revived tree-planting activities “as yearly event for local government units.” (RAV-MPD/SBMA)

PHOTOS: (Clockwise from top left)

[1] SBMA Chairman Roberto V. Garcia (left) receives an Apitong seedling from Senior Forester Edward Sernadilla during the kick-off ceremony for the Arbor Day celebration in the Subic Bay Freeport on Friday, June 24. The Apitong is among the endangered dipterocarp tree varieties listed as vanishing forest tree species, which will be propagated by the SBMA Ecology Center.

[2] Volunteers plant seedlings of fruit-bearing trees at the Pastolan Ayta village.

[3] Volunteers enjoy a “boodle fight” after planting fruit-bearing tree species at the Pastolan Ayta village.

[4] SBMA Chairman Roberto V. Garcia (left) and other SBMA employees join Aeta tribal leaders Bonifacio Florentino and Conrado Frenilla in the Arbor Day tree-planting activity.

(AMD/MPD-SBMA)

Read More

SBMA partners with private firms for mangrove reforestation

The Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) has successfully harnessed the support of the private sector in implementing a project to restore mangrove forests here and increase public awareness on the importance of mangrove ecosystems.

According to SBMA Chairman Roberto Garcia, five business locators here and two schools from as far as Manila and La Union, have already participated in the agency’s mangrove restoration program since it was launched by the SBMA Ecology Center early this year.

The program has resulted in the planting of about 300 mangrove propagules, as well as a total of 130 nipa seedlings, with survival rates averaging at 70 percent in most planting areas in the Subic Bay Freeport.

Garcia said the program has gained much support from local stakeholders and visitors because the reforestation project is complemented by an Information, Education and Communication (IEC) campaign to help increase public appreciation of mangroves and their role in biodiversity.

“Once people learn that mangroves are not just putrid swampy areas, but in fact serve as home and breeding places for a large variety of fish, crab, shrimp and shells, they volunteer their help in planting and cleaning the mangrove areas here,” Garcia said.

“And because of the importance of mangroves not only in food production, but also in coastal protection and tourism, we hope to engage more and more companies and private groups in keeping the mangroves in Subic healthy and well,” the SBMA official added.

“Since February this year, the SBMA Ecology Center has undertaken several mangrove planting, cleanups, IEC tours, and species identification projects in partnership with companies and schools,” said Rhea Jane Mallari, a senior forest management specialist of the SBMA Ecology Center.

These include the International School of Manila, which planted “busain” and “piapi” species of mangrove; Subic Golf, which planted nipa seedlings for erosion control; Aikon Subic and Orica, which both undertook planting and IEC activities; Petron Corporation and Hitachi Mechatronics, both for planting and cleanup; and Don Mariano Marcos State University in La Union, which planted mangrove and helped in species identification and phenology.

The participants also donated tools and equipment, and some seed bags used in the planting activities.

Mallari said that most of the trees planted by the program participants had survived, although the Ecology Center and its partners “are still in the process of learning the best practices in mangrove restoration.”

“There is so much to be done, and in this regard we are seeking more partners and supporters to help us establish and operate a mangrove nursery,” Mallari said.

Lilia Alcazar, chief of the SBMA Ecology Center’s Protected Area Division, said the nursery project is important because nursery-raised mangrove seedlings have better-established root systems, and hence,higher survival rates.

The Center is also hoping for assistance in patrolling the mangrove areas here to discourage encroachment and indiscriminate harvesting of mangrove forest products.

Alcazar added that aside from raising public awareness on the importance of mangrove ecosystems, the Center’s Mangrove IEC and Restoration Program seeks to encourage stakeholders in joining the conduct of mangrove management strategies, the protection and maintenance of the integrity of mangrove forests, and the conduct of research and ecologically-sound activities in mangrove areas at the Subic Bay Freeport Zone. (HEE/MPD-SBMA)


PHOTOS:
[1] Members of the SBMA Ecology Center’s mangrove restoration team harvest mangrove wildlings for transplanting at the Binictican-Malawaan mangrove forest in the Subic Bay Freeport.(AMD/MPD-SBMA)

[2] SBMA senior forest management specialist Rhea Jane Mallari (left) leads the Ecology Center mangrove restoration team in harvesting wildlings for transplanting at the Binictican-Malawaan mangrove forest in the Subic Bay Freeport. (AMD/MPD-SBMA)

Read More

Subic Bay stakeholders plant trees to celebrate Arbor Day

Volunteer groups and workers in this free port joined the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) in a tree-planting activity here in celebration of Arbor Day on Thursday.

More than a thousand SBMA employees, workers from Freeport companies, and volunteers from various civic organizations in Olongapo City planted around 1,500 saplings of different tree species at the reforestation site in Mount Santa Rita.

Forester Patrick Escusa, head of the SBMA Ecology Center’s Social Development Division, which coordinated the event, said the participants included delegates from the Community Environment and Natural Resources Office of Olongapo City, the Philippine Coast Guard Auxiliary 111th Squadron in Hermosa, Bataan, the Department of Public Works and Highways, and the Philippine National Police offices in Olongapo and Hermosa.

SBMA Chairman Roberto Garcia said the project is part of the agency’s environmental preservation and conservation advocacy program under Republic Act 10716, which revived the observance of Arbor Day in 2012 and authorized government units to observe the annual event with tree-planting activities.

The same law requires all able-bodied citizens, who are at least 12 years of age, to plant at least one tree every year.

“What we’re doing here is taking care of the environment; yet we are also ensuring the sustainability of our future with this activity,” Garcia said. “With the help of stakeholders in the Freeport, the SBMA is committed more than ever to continue with this project and pave a brighter, greener tomorrow for Subic.”

The Arbor Day celebration, which was the first to be held here in the Subic Freeport, kicked off with a simple program in front of the SBMA administration building, and then proceeded with an 80-vehicle convoy to the reforestation site in Mount Santa Rita.

SBMA Deputy Administrator for Legal Affairs Randy Escolango, who is also commander of the PCGA 111th Squadron, said that the celebration was successful, considering the high turnout.

“The celebration was a big success. It only manifests that most us still care for the environment and are willing to give time and effort to preserve it,” Escolango said.

Meanwhile, dozens of employees and senior officials of Hitachi Terminals Mechatronics Philippines (HTMP), a Japanese company, which manufactures ATM parts and components, planted 150 mangrove wildlings at the mangrove sanctuary in the Freeport zone.

Catherine Dizon, HTMP assistant manager for administration, said that the activity is part of the firm’s corporate social responsibility program that also aims to promote awareness on environment preservation among the company’s workers.

“While it is harder to plant mangrove than tree saplings, this is a new experience for all of us and our Japanese bosses enjoyed doing this,” Dizon added.

The mangrove-planting activity was led by Hitoshi Ito, HTMP general manager for production; Hiroto Konoke, general manager for administration; Kenji Hattori, department manager for purchasing; and Tokunobu Asami, deputy department manager for engineering. (RAV/MPD-SBMA)


PHOTOS:
[1] SBMA employees and workers from locator-companies plant trees at Mount Santa Rita in celebration of Arbor Day in the Subic Bay Freeport on Thursday, June 25. (AMD/MPD-SBMA)

[2] Employees of Hitachi Terminals Mechatronics Philippines conduct a mangrove reforestation project at the Malawaan mangrove sanctuary as part of the company's corporate social responsibility program. (AMD/MPD-SBMA)

Read More