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I was born and raised in “ The Garden City of the North,” specifically Sagay City in Negros Occidental. The name Sagay was derived from “sigay”, a semi-spherical shell which abounds in the city’s many islets and shores. The 66th city in the Philippines, Sagay is from the Northernmost tip of the island of Negros. It is bounded in the North by Asuncion Pass and Visayan sea; It is approximately 84 kms. from Bacolod City which is the Provincial Capital.

Sagay City’s history is as quaint and as colorful as its name. From a settlement hewn from the jungle about a century ago, it is today one of the newest progressive and dynamic city in the Philippines. Sagay can be easily identified in the map of Negros Occidental because of its ice-cream cone shape sliced from the northern tip of Negros It’s been two years that I have not gone back home. On why it is so memorable to me, there are many reasons. I was once a government employee in Sagay City. I was assigned in the City Health Center where I started as Sanitation Inspector. My responsibility then was to maintain, uphold and implement the law of sanitation for five years I am proud to say that I contributed to the city’s reputation as the cleanest city in the province of Negros. I missed the carbin reef Sagay Marine Reserve (Carbin Reef) Islets which are surrounded by corals a 32,000 hectares of Sagay’s territorial waters and were declared Protected Seascape under the National Integrated Protected Area System. On April 14, 2001, this same area became the Sagay Marine Reserve through Presidential Proclamation No. 592.

The reef has 60 genera of hard, black and soft corals, and five species of giant clams, some as wide as one meter. You will see more than 250 species of reef and pelagic fishes, four species of marine turtles, five species of the endangered dugong (a large marine mammal which, together with the manatees, is one of four living species of the order Sirenia) among the ten species of sea grass and 78 species of Macro Benthic Algae covering 3,000 hectares.

In 1997, the reserve was given the Galing Pook Awards for Top Ten Innovative Programs on Marine Conservation and Protection.

Still a lot more to missed in Sagay City…..