Friday, August 13, 2004 Peña: Eco-waste model barangays By Rox Peña
(First of 2 parts)
LAST Aug. 5, 2004, I attended the awarding ceremonies in Malacañang for the winners of the Nationwide Search for Model Barangays for Eco-Waste Management Systems.
No less than President Arroyo conferred the cash prizes and trophies, including the P1 million grand prize for the five-star awardee. Her presence signifies her strong commitment in finding a permanent and environmentally sound solution to the garbage problem. Republic Act 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000, which was the basis for the contest, is the first law she signed upon her assumption to office.
Assisting the President in handing the awards were Environment Secretary Bebet Gozun and former first lady Ming Ramos, who chairs the multi-sectoral convenors group.
The countrywide search for barangays, which have successfully implemented RA 9003, was launched on October 15, 2003. It is a follow-through activity to the National Conference on Ecological Solid Waste Management held last April 14 and 15, 2003 at the Philippine International Convention Center. This conference, which we in the Recycling Movement of the Philippines co-organized, drew a large crowd of more than 2,000 participants from all over the country. We were only expecting half that number so we were caught unprepared for the huge turnout. This shows the interest of many barangay officials in implementing RA 9003.
After a series of screenings from the municipal/city and provincial level, 162 barangays reached the pre-determined cut-off score and made it to the national level. It was at this point that I was called in to join the multi-sectoral group of validators who will conduct a document assessment and field validation of all the 162 entrants. The barangays were grouped by regions and representatives from business, civil society, church and government sectors who have background in solid waste management were assigned to each area.
On May 26, 2004, the Region 3 team composed of representatives from the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB), Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), Social Action Center of Pampanga (SACOP) and myself representing the business sector, conducted the field validation of contenders from Zambales, Pampanga and Tarlac.
To speed up the validation process, our colleagues from the National Capitol Region (NCR) took care of the entries from Bulacan. I was also invited to join the validation team in Ilocos Region but begged off because it will take about a week to visit all the sites. I cannot afford to be out of the office that long.
After the document and field assessment, only 77 were considered for the final selection process. Those in Region 3 that managed to reach this stage were Graceville, San Jose del Monte in Bulacan, Sto. Tomas Subic in Zambales and San Juan Bautista in Betis, Pampanga. Finally on August 05, the model barangays were announced and the awarding was held in Malacañang no less.
Receiving a certificate of Recognition and P10,000 each are 26 finalist-barangays which are: Abo-abo, Sofronio Española in Palawan; Anahawon and San Roque Maramag in Bukidnon; Bagumbuhay and Philam in Quezon City; Banahaw and Pag-asa, Sta. Cruz in Marinduque; Bancod, Indang in Cavite; Bulata, Cauayan and Calindagan, Duamaguete in Negros Occidental; Forbes Park in Makati; Lingsat, San Fernando in La Union; Lias-Silangan, Barlig in Mt. Province; Maguino-o in Calbayog City; Pamplona Dos in Las Piñas City; Pines, Oroquieta in Misamis Occidental; Poblacion, Maragusan in Compostella Valley; Poblacion Ilaya, San Enrique and Zone 5, Sta. Barbara in Iloilo; San Antonio and San Pablo Cuayan in Isabela; San Antonio Ogbon, Nabua in Camarines Sur; San Isidro, Luna in Apayao; Santiago, Salsona in Ilocos Sur; Turod Norte, Cordon in Isabela; and Ugong in Pasig. It is in Barangay Ugong where doy packs are converted into bags and other novelty items for export.
Special Award was given to Barangay Sun Valley in Parañaque, for pioneering the practice of Ecological Solid Waste Management even before RA 9003 was enacted. Many local and international visitors have gone to this urban community to learn about composting. Sun Valley's hardworking barangay captain, Bert Guevarra, is our former president in the Recycling Movement of the Philippines.
Special recognitions were given to Sibutad, Zamboanga del Norte for having the most number of Materials Recovery Facilities (MRF) and to the Quezon City government for being the first to convert its open dumpsite to controlled dumpsite and for pioneering methane gas recovery for power generation. (To be continued)
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