Pinoy lawyer swims from Alcatraz to San Francisco for cleaner seas

Cleaner seas, healthier lifestyles, and a robust tourist trade in Surigao motivated environmental lawyer Ingemar Macarine to swim almost 3 kilometers in temperatures as low as 12 degrees Celsius in the United States last Monday.

Macarine swam from the Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary to Aquatic Park in San Francisco in one hour and two minutes, repeating his earlier performance in Surigao

The part-time triathlete surged through Surigao Channel twice—first in December 2013 from Basul Island to Lipata, Surigao City for 4.2 km, and in February, then tripling the distance in February to 12.82 km, tracking a route from Hikdop Island to Surigao City.

In an email to GMA News Online, Macarine said he prepared for the US feat by swimming short distances twice on weekends, and longer distances in the weekends. He added he and his team plan to swim from Visayas to Mindanao in May.

Macarine, a Commission of Elections lawyer from Bohol, believes that swimming will "help bring awareness to environmental concerns, especially clean seawater."

He also hopes that his feat will bring curious tourists to Surigao, not only to see the sights, but to continue their physically active lifestyles.

The Arellano Law-alumnus will return to the Philippines on April 17.

Other than swimming, Macarine leads the Surigao Runners Club (SRC), which is currently preparing for CARAGA's first 42k race in May.

“SRC aims for Surigao del Norte to become a prime spot for running and triathlon events and to make it at par with Davao and Bukidnon and even Cebu," Macarine told Our Mindanao news magazine.

SRC and Macarine also completed the San Francisco Rock n' Roll 1/2 Marathon last April 6. In aphoto on Facebook, the lawyer said they “are proud to run for our country! Mabuhay ang Pilipinas!"— Rie Takumi/KBK/JL, GMA News

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

PCG: China’s bullying in West Philippine Sea undermines international law --- Ghio Ong - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — Letting China sustain its aggression in the West Philippine Sea would make other countries doubt the strength of international law currently being asserted by the Philippines, Commodore Jay Tarriela of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said. “Allowing China to blatantly disregard the established rules-based order threatens the very foundation that we all depend on,” he wrote in a post on X last Tuesday. He added, “If we permit this, countries worldwide may forget why this order was created in the first place. Nations could begin to doubt the significance of adhering to international law if powerful bullies can easily violate it.” Tarriela also said defiance of other countries to a rules-based order would result in the prevalence of cruelty. He wrote, “This could lead us back to a time when might makes right, undermining the global structures that keep human greed, savagery and barbarism in check. Such a scenario would not only invite challenges from aggressive ...
Read more

China ships maintain presence in key West Philippine Sea areas --- Michael Punongbayan - The Philippine Star

STAR / Michael Varcas MANILA, Philippines — While Chinese vessels in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) have decreased in number, they have maintained a presence in three key land features where naval and coast guard ships have intensified operations in the past seven days, according to the Philippine Navy. Latest monitoring by the Philippine Navy showed armed ships of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) maintaining a menacing presence around the grounded BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal, Panatag Shoal and Escoda Shoal. According to the Philippine Navy, there are 17 Chinese military vessels and 28 China Coast Guard (CCG) boats spotted inside the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) between Sept. 23 and 30, or one vessel more than in the previous week Sept.17-23. Five of the warships were seen roaming around the vicinity of Escoda Shoal, along with 10 CCG vessels and 12 maritime militia vessels (MMVs). There are also two PLAN ships in Ayungin Shoal as well as 10 CCG boats and 12...
Read more

Social media seen as cause of rising intermarriages --- Helen Flores - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) sees social media as the main reason for the rising number of Filipinos marrying or becoming partners of foreign nationals. In 2022, the CFO recorded 6,854 marriages or partnerships with foreign nationals, a 40.1 percent increase from the 4,891 “intermarriages” recorded in 2021. “First of all, what we see in the increase in the marriage rate of Filipinos or Filipinos with foreign partners is because of social media, (that) is number one; matchings; letters, introduction of their friends,” CFO chairperson Romulo Arugay said at the Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon public briefing yesterday. Arugay said the agency has been registering a high number of intermarriages since 2007, but the figures went down during the COVID-19 pandemic. From over 6,500 Filipinos who married foreign nationals, only 600 are men, he said. Most of them are married to Americans, Japanese, Germans, Canadians and Australians, Arugay said. Arugay warned Fi...
Read more