Manila, Sep 17 (IANS): Thousands of Philippine Coast Guard personnel on Saturday cleaned up the country's littered shores as part of International Coastal Cleanup Day.

Coast Guard officials said some 5,000 staff and auxiliary members participated in the nationwide cleanup efforts, with around 300 gathering on the capital's heavily polluted Manila Bay from 6.00 a.m. local time, EFE news reported.

In four hours, eight truckloads of garbage was collected, said officials.

Manila Bay suffers from high levels of commercial and domestic wastes, leading to environmental problems including degradation of habitats and loss of biodiversity.

The Philippine archipelago has one of the longest combined coastlines in the world. Across the country, coastal areas are densely inhabited, with a large number of people depending on coastal fisheries for their livelihoods.

The officials said they were spearheading the campaign in the country to support the International Coastal Cleanup Day led by environmental advocacy group - Ocean Conservancy.

The event is marked every year on the third Saturday of September in more than 100 countries around the world.