Olive Ridley sea turtles return to nest at Chevron’s Batangas beachline

After several coastal cleanups, the endangered Olive Ridley sea turtles are back nesting in the beaches of San Pascual in Batangas. Chevron Philippines Inc. (CPI) has been conducting beach clearing along the coastline bordering its Batangas Terminal as part of its annual Week of Caring (WOC) activities. During the past two years, Olive Ridley sea turtles were observed to lay eggs along the beach, with the latest batch expected to hatch by February 2017. CPI has assigned guards to the cordoned-off area to protect the turtle eggs from predators. All the guards have undergone the Turtle Encounter Training by Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and Community Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO) Protected Area and Wildlife Sector (PAWS).

As a result of the regular turtle visits, the DENR declared the area a protected turtle nesting habitat. During CPI’s annual coastal cleanup, volunteers from its employees and the community clear the beach of debris and trash. This year, about 2.5 tons of trash were collected from the beach, not including large driftwoods, which could harm and prevent the turtles from safely laying their eggs. While an undertaking such as a coastal cleanup is important in keeping waste off marine waters, it is equally important for citizens to reduce their wastage by utilizing less plastic and non-biodegradable materials.

Aside from the coastal cleanup, this year’s Chevron WOC involved enhancing facilities in hospitals and schools. Participants painted wall murals, walls, shelves, armchairs, and gates. They also created greeting cards, and learned the importance of road safety in Makati where most of them currently reside. For five days from Sept. 19 to 23 this year, about 500 CPI employees worked almost a thousand hours engaging in various activities that addressed children’s needs in education, safety, health, and the environment. The children benefiting from these projects participated in the activities as well. The beneficiaries of the 9th edition of the annual WOC from day 1 to 5, respectively, were pupils of Bay Central Elementary School (BCES) in Los Baños, special kids of the SPED Learning Center (SLC) in Calamba, students of Makati Elementary School, patients of the pediatric cancer ward of the Philippine General Hospital (PGH), and the community of San Pascual, Batangas for the coastal cleanup. About 4,000 children benefited from the CPI volunteers’ labor of love.

“Focusing on environmentalism, health, education and safety, we were able to log in significant hours that filled a week of truly caring for the community. It gets better and better every year, as we strive to reach out to more communities. The more the employees give a hand, the more inspired and motivated they become about valuing their work and their contribution to society,” said Peter Morris, CPI country chair. With diversity as one of the corporate values of the company, Chevron believes that active involvement in a variety of community services makes for well-rounded and high-performing employees.

Aside from Week of Caring, CPI is involved in various other social investment projects. CPI has been operating in the country for more than 90 years. Caltex, its retail brand, offers high quality products and services. There are close to 700 service stations strategically scattered throughout the Philippine archipelago and employees working in several areas of business such as Marketing, Lubricants and Terminal operations. Chevron products available in the Philippines include Caltex with Techron fuel and Caltex Diesel with Techron D, Havoline and Delo oils. More information on Chevron Philippines Inc. is available at www.caltex.com/ph.