JCI Regatta kicks off national JCI Week with flagship Project UGAT

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By Joseph Bernard A. Marzan

Junior Chamber International (JCI) Regatta, an Iloilo-based local organization that develops young active citizens, opened its celebration of the nationwide JCI Week through one of its flagship projects, Project UGAT, or Upsurging Greenery Amidst the Tides, on Sunday, April 19.

With its partners, the organization planted 300 bakhaw propagules in the mangrove areas of Barangay Hinactacan in Iloilo City’s La Paz district.

The latest activity brought to 5,100 the total number of propagules and seedlings that the organization has planted in Iloilo, Guimaras and other parts of the country.

Project UGAT goes beyond mangrove planting by promoting environmental education through UGAT Talks, building partnerships with other JCI organizations across the country, and expanding mangrove propagation efforts.

Initiated in 2022, the project has also included discussions on how mangrove development helps reduce flooding risks and protect coastal communities, as well as why these ecosystems must be maintained with care.

The project has also received recognition within JCI, winning Best Local Corporate Social Responsibility Program at the 2023 and 2024 JCI Philippines Visayas Area Conference Awards.

Participants in the recent activity included awardees of another JCI Regatta flagship program, The Outstanding Students of Iloilo Awards, and volunteers from the University of San Agustin, West Visayas State University and PHINMA University of Iloilo, as well as the Division Federation of Supreme Secondary Learner Governments of Iloilo City.

Daily Guardian was also among the project’s partners.

Following the mangrove planting, JCI Regatta also led a cleanup of the area, which uncovered sacks of waste that had either washed ashore or been left in the mangrove site.

Project UGAT chair for 2026 Mark Gaspar Prologo highlighted the importance of partnerships in ensuring the project’s success.

“Your presence today reflects our shared commitment to protecting and restoring our local communities. The project aims to strengthen ecoystems while empowering communities and partners,” Prologo said.

Prologo also said the project is expanding to seagrass propagation, the continuation of Mangrove Footbridge Phase 2, Mangrove for Youth textbooks, and further expansion to the cities of Tacloban and Davao.

JCI WEEK

JCI Regatta also laid out several activities for JCI Week, the annual nationwide observance of JCI programs and projects that promotes JCI values and its areas of opportunity.

Following Project UGAT, JCI Regatta also organized a pickleball tournament with JCI Iloilo, JCI Iloilo Ilang-Ilang and JCI Metro Iloilo Dinagyang at Robinsons Place Jaro.

The organization also concluded Project ABKD+, which supported children’s learning in Barangay Rizal Lapuz Sur through individualized teaching and the provision of kits and learning materials.

Other members of the barangay’s youth sector also received sessions on promoting peace in the digital space, as well as on health, sanitation and literacy.

The learners’ mothers also joined talks on parenthood and Republic Act No. 9262, or the Anti-Violence Against Women and Their Children Act of 2004.

Activities laid out across the week include:

• Silence In The Court, an Inclusive Deaf Basketball Scrimmage and Training in Jaro (April 21)
• Project Kalig-unan at Balay Dalayunan: A Home for the Boys in La Paz (April 22);
• Panublion: Digital Marketing for the Aeta Community in Jordan, Guimaras (April 23);
• Hearty Healthy Philippines: Blood Donation Drive at Asia Pacific Medical Center-Iloilo (April 24);
• Mother’s Class at Asia Pacific Medical Center-Iloilo (April 24); and
• The Coral Project Year 3 Leg 1and Boats to School Year 3 in Estancia, Iloilo (April 25).