Nearly 100 students and volunteers gathered in Barangay Ditale on Friday for a Coastal Clean-Up Drive and Climate Resilience Advocacy event led by Americares Philippines, hauling away 283.7 kilos of trash from the beach and nearby lots.

The event celebrated the organization’s 12th anniversary by returning to one of its first recipients of assistance, said Country Director Paul Gwyn Pagaran, thanking local officials and students in his remarks.

The village is among the most vulnerable to typhoons and storm surges on the Pacific Ocean’s front line.

Dipaculao Municipal Social Welfare and Development Office Head Rowena Asan echoed the spirit of collaboration: “Ang lahat ay gumagawa, ang rehabilitasyon ay nagiging mabilis dahil kasama namin kayo” (Everyone is helping; rehabilitation moves faster because you’re with us), referring to Americares Philippines.

Super Typhoon Uwan (international name Fung-wong) in November 2025, battered Dipaculao, including Barangay Ditale, with storm surges and landslides, isolating the town and wrecking infrastructure. Americares responded swiftly with medicines, hygiene kits, safe water, and sanitation supplies.

Pagaran pledged ongoing support through mobile medical units and mental health services.

Before the beach cleanup, the group distributed safety gear: reusable trash bags (sacks), tongs, and reusable gloves.

Participants scoured the coastline and adjacent vacant lots, uncovering cigarette butts wedged into typhoon-tossed rocks along the shore, as Pagaran noted: “Karamihan ng basura sa tabing-dagat ay cigarette butts na sumiksik na sa mga malalaking bato na dinala ng alon during Uwan (Most of the trash along the seashore consists of cigarette butts that have become lodged between the large rocks brought in by the waves during Uwan).”

Inland, burned plastics, bottle caps, broken household items, and junk food wrappers littered dense grassy areas—potential mosquito breeding grounds that trap rainwater, he added.

Residents already conduct weekly beach cleanups, Pagaran said.

Six students won prizes for the heaviest trash sacks, and all participants received certificates.

Pagaran noted that while Americares Philippines is celebrating its 12th year, its mother unit, Americares in the US, has been operating for 50 years. (PNA)