MMDA board game promotes flood control, environmental awareness

The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) has come up with a board game to make young Filipinos aware of flood control and environmental awareness, and the consequences of dumping garbage indiscriminately.

 

MMDA Chairman Francis Tolentino said instilling the good habit of disposing garbage properly would help prevent flooding in the metropolis.  

^{The Metro Manila Ilog Pasig Game, in English and Filipino}

“Ang kapaligiran maiwasan ang pagbaha, malilinis ang estero kahit sa paglalaro lang. Ang pagtapon ng basura, hindi laro yan,” Tolentino said in an interview on dzBB radio.

 

He said the game is patterned after “Snakes and Ladders,” the classic board game where players advance or are made to go back several steps as a consequence of their actions.

 

The MMDA board game also provides students with facts about deforestation, flooding, global warming and waste recycling.

 

“Initially maganda (ang reaction) sa mga guro,” Tolentino said. He added that they hope Education Secretary Armin Luistro would endorse it.

 

'Metro Manila Ilog Pasig'

 

Dubbed "Metro Manila Ilog Pasig," the game was introduced by Tolentino to fourth-year students of Guadalupe Catholic School in Makati City.

 

"The MMDA board game, provides students with helpful facts and trivia about deforestation, flooding, global warming and waste recycling as they navigate towards the finish line. The game's setting is the stretch of Pasig River," the MMDA said.

 

"We thought this game would help students realize the value of environmental conservation, even while they are playing," Tolentino said.

 

Tolentino added they will soon come up with an improved version of the game that would include facts about the MMDA's flood control facilities such as pumping stations.

 

Curriculum on environmental protection

 

He said he will also meet with Luistro to suggest the possible inclusion into the curriculum of a subject or course that teaches environmental protection.

 

"But people need to realize that flooding and being in an evacuation center is certainly not fun and rescuing disaster victims is not a game. This should sink in to the residents of Metro Manila, including our students," Tolentino said. — TJD, GMA News