The city government here is devising creative new ways to get citizens on board with its “Save the Bays” initiative.

In a press briefing on Monday, city information officer Richard Ligad reported that about 14 garbage trucks full of rubbish were collected by participants in a trash-picking contest held over the weekend.

He said the “Scoop Basura Version 2.0” event took place on Saturday along the shoreline of Barangay Bagong Silang.

The contest pitted 20 teams of Bagong Silang residents against each other, while 15 teams of uniformed government personnel and seven teams of students and teachers engaged in separate competitions.

The goal of the three-hour contest was to fill as many trash bins as possible, with 50 trash bins as a minimum.

“So, at the signal to start the competition, the participants were like in an Amazing Race-type event as they began gathering garbage,” he added.

Contestants engaged in an intense competition were armed only with baskets, sacks and shovels, said Ligad.

Teams representing Purok Mameng, the Philippine Coast Guard and Palawan National High School won their respective categories.

The city’s Solid Waste Management and Oplan Linis Program documented that the contest managed to gather up 1,065 trash bins, or the equivalent of 14 fully-loaded garbage trucks.

Additionally, a mudball throwing event was also carried out with the participation of city government employees, non-government organizations and other agencies that showed their strong support for the city’s environmental program.

The mudballs thrown in the bays were loaded with microorganisms needed to help restore marine biodiversity in Puerto Princesa Bay, Honda Bay, Ulugan Bay, Oyster Bay, Turtle Bay and Binunsalian Bay, Ligad added. (PNA)