MAASIM, SARANGANI – The Sarangani Energy Corporation (SEC) jetty facility in Barangay Kamanga now hosts a flourishing bevy of marine life because of the constant environmental preservation and protection efforts being conducted by the company, the community, the local government of Maasim, and other government agencies. Photos show a teeming display of life and colors from fish and corals taken in an underwater inspection conducted by SEC pollution control personnel in late 2019. In 2009, SEC and the local government of Maasim started rehabilitating the Marine Protected Area (MPA) in front of the plant long before the company commenced operations in 2016. There were 5,000 artificial reef domes deployed in Sarangani Bay along with the massive mangrove reforestation initiatives in Maasim’s costal barangays. Due to  these community-partnerships combined with strict enforcement of environmental laws, the 43.85-hectare Kamanga Marine Eco-Tourism Park and Sanctuary within the vicinity of the  power plant’s jetty was cited among 12 outstanding Marine Protected Areas (MPA) in the country for “implementing exemplary marine and coastal governance” Para el MAR (for the Sea) Award for Most Outstanding Marine Protected Areas in the Philippines in 2015. “We owe this to the strong and active partnership between the local government and Sarangani Energy Corporation (SEC). They have helped us a lot,” Maasim Mayor Zyrex Pacquiao said.  “Since the very beginning, we don’t consider the power plant a threat at all but an opportunity for us to have clearer steps in protecting our MPA,” Pacquiao added.