THE Davao City Environment and Natural Resources Office (Cenro) will be strictly apprehending individuals and establishments that will not properly segregate their garbage after penalties were increased.
Cenro Head Marivic Reyes said in a radio interview on Monday, April 25 that this in accordance with Ordinance 0706-21 passed last year, amending the penalty clause of the Davao City Ecological Solid Waste Management Ordinance of 2009.
The amended ordinance has provided an increase in the penalties from P300 to P500 for erring individuals, while fines for establishments have been raised to P5,000 from P1,000.
Reyes said they resumed issuing citation tickets beginning early this year.
"Padayon among pag-implement para lang ma-improve ug ma-enhance atong pamaagi sa pag-manage sa basura. Nagapadayon mi sa pagpanakop sa mga violators nga dili musunod sa oras sa paglabay, ug dili naga-segregate (We continue to implement it to improve and enhance our waste management. We continue to apprehend violators who will not follow the hours of throwing garbage at the designated collection point, and those who throw their unsegregated wastes)," the Cenro official said in an interview on 87.5 FM Davao City Disaster Radio.
The official, meanwhile, told SunStar Davao in a phone interview that the increased penalty aims to instill discipline among Dabawenyos in segregating their wastes.
"Ang purpose ani is not just (This is not just) for income purpose, but also for the people na madisiplina sila kay mahal naman ang bayad (to be disciplined since the penalties are now increased)," Reyes said.
She said both Cenro and the barangay will be issuing citation tickets to violators who will be caught violating the waste segregation in the designated collection point by the barangays.
"Naa ta (There are) collection point designated by the barangay, wherein enforcers will be assigned. Usually si barangay naga-monitor. Pag-ma-caught in the act namo sila na maglabay, diha namo sila isyuhan og citation ticket (it’s the barangay who should be monitoring it. If we would be able to catch them in the act throwing their wastes improperly, that’s the time we will issue them a citation ticket),” Reyes said.
Admittedly, she said not all barangays will be deployed with Cenro enforcers who will be monitoring the waste segregation due to lack of manpower.
"For now, hinay-hinay pero kinahanglan namo ang effort sa barangay kay sila naman ang mag-fully enforce sa issuehan og citation ticket (we will be steadily be deploying personnels in the barangays, but we need the barangays to exert more effort since they will be the ones enforcing the citation ticket)," Reyes said, citing the barangay’s role in the Republic Act 9003, or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act.
Meanwhile, Reyes said they are currently participating in the crafting of the implementing rules and regulation for the "No to Single-Use Plastics Ordinance of 2021," which was enacted into law in the city in June 2021. The ordinance aims to regulate the sale, distribution, and use of single-use plastics in the city.
She added that information dissemination is also being conducted to inform Dabawenyos on the ordinance, which aims to reduce the plastic consumption in the city.
Reyes also reminded residents living in nearby bodies of waters to practice waste segregation and stop dumping their wastes in the riverbanks.