UPLB :: News :: University teams up with senior citizens and drugstore to help restore Molawin Creek
University teams up with senior citizens and drugstore to help restore Molawin Creek PDF Print E-mail
Written by the OVCCA   
Thursday, 12 August 2010 11:06
Mussaenda "Queen Sirikit," Mussaenda "Doña Aurora," dwarf Banaba, and Hibiscus varieties planted at the Molawin Bio-Park on July 18 by representatives of the University, the private sector, and a senior citizens' organization are the most recent symbols of an even stronger partnership between UPLB and its neighbors.

Dr. Virginia Cardenas, vice chancellor for community affairs; Dr. Macrina T. Zafaralla, chair of the Occupational Health and Safety Standards Committee (OHSSC), GENERIKA Drugstore personnel, and Mayondon senior citizens planted the aforementioned ornamental species as part of the Molawin Creek restoration program.

GENERIKA Drugstore has adopted the Molawin Bio-Park and pledged to be actively involved in its maintenance and sustainability. The efforts towards Molawin Creek restoration, according to Dr. Zafaralla, must also include the beautification of restored streams. Hence, Dr. Cardenas encouraged community participation to enhance Molawin Creeks' natural beauty.

In response, GENERIKA Drugstore personnel headed by its supervisor, Tim Alorro III, and some members of the Mayondon Senior Citizens Group, the UPLB Community Support Brigade, and Riverside residents cleaned up the park and constructed temporary stairs with rip-rap structure going down the riverbank. According to Alorro, they will further develop the park into a conducive place for group study and as a tourist promenade.
The Molawin Bio-Park, located underneath the Bocobo Bridge, is home to Dr. Zafaralla's

aquatic macrophyte biosorption system, a low-cost system made out of bamboo and planted with water hyacinth, a plant species native to the stream that reduces concentrations of water pollutants. The Bio-Park is a stream bank of the Molawin River that flows down the slopes of Mt. Makiling, through the campus, and to Batong Malake, Maahas, and Sto. Domingo barangays before emptying into Laguna de Bay. (OVCCA Press Release)