“The only way forward, if we are going to improve the quality of the environment, is to get everybody involved.” – Richard Rogers
I WROTE about the festering garbage problem in my barangay (village) of Natumolan in Tagoloan town, Misamis Oriental in northern Mindanao, Philippines upon my return to North Carolina, USA a few weeks ago.
I'm sure I saw the images of the garbage of Cagayan de Oro City on Sun.Star Cagayan de Oro City several weeks ago also. It both disturbed and kept me thinking.
Garbage is a problem. And the solution, according to renowned British architect Richard Rogers, is to get everybody involved. He is right.
I didn’t know who Rogers was and I had to Google for good quotes on the garbage problem. Anyway, he must mean that the garbage problem should also be carefully studied in relation to its impact on human health, the environment and a community's economic development.
In my youth, garbage was dumped in Tagoloan river while others were burned. There was no segregation of plastic, paper, glass and cans, it was all dumped together.
I grew up inhaling the noxious fumes from the burning garbage and to those residing in Cagayan de Oro, I guess you still do.
My family burns garbage at the end of the day so it would scare the mosquitoes away. I call it “lapog” which is used to drive away dengue-carrying mosquitoes but now that technique doesn't work because the mosquitoes have become more aggressive.
Garbage wasn't the big problem then that it is nowadays. Thanks to decades of neglect, it had become quite serious. Now garbage is recognized as a threat to health and the environment.
In fact, it's a political issue. Leaders or would-be politicians riding on it or those ignoring it. Those in denial hold myopic views on the problem or they simply refuse to acknowledge it.
That should not be the case because it is everybody’s concern. Leaders, the local and national government, everyone in the community should address it because it would worsen if it is neglected.
It would be safe to assume that there is a municipal developmental plan for Tagoloan but I am unsure that the present municipal administration plans to build a landfill or segregation area.
To prove my point, Natumulan's barangay chairman or village chief Enan Sabio said their garbage trucks had to go all the way to neighboring town Villanueva to dump the garbage there. I have no reason to doubt his claim.
I don’t know about the other villages it could also be a problem. Or I guess they just kowtow to the powers that be and wait for the garbage trucks to arrive at their area.
I believe the words of lawyer Yoyoc Yap when he said that the municipal government purchased an area somewhere in Barangay Sta. Ana years ago to develop it into a landfill site.
Why it wasn't developed until now baffles me. Cagayan de Oro City has problems with its existing landfill site in Upper Carmen and city health officials have already warned about the health effects of the presence of so much garbage to the nearby communities and even passersby who inhale even a fraction of the methane produced from the landfill.
Even if it is a repository of garbage, the landfill is showing signs of decay and with all the methane accumulated there, one lighted cigarette butt is all it would take to set it on fire.
Still, the Padayon Pilipino-dominated Cagayan de Oro City Council doesn't see it as a problem. They would only act on it if their lord and master win in next year's elections.
Again, for residents of Cagayan de Oro City, the garbage problem is more political than they can imagine.
Just recently, I read that the president of Xavier University is trying his best to help find a solution for this problem but because of TMP or too much politics it fell on the deaf ears of Vice Mayor Caesar Ian Acenas.
Let them have their political moves. They cannot do anything if the community solves the problem themselves. How?
I've been thinking that if the leaders of Tagoloan town and Cagayan de Oro City together with the non-government organizations (NGOs), the academe and the communities would band together and mobilize their ranks in cooperation with the Cagayan de Oro Archdiocese, they can lobby and demand for new landfill areas to develop in the city and the town.
I propose a summit to resolve the garbage problem. The summit should review and submit recommendations for long-term, sustainable waste management, waste reduction and recycling options. It should foremost encourage cooperation among local units that are close to each other.
Solid waste professionals should be invited and propose solutions. We have a lot of these professionals in our midst. The picture of garbage in raw color that I saw a month ago in Sun.Star Cagayan de Oro is disturbing and the garbage that I've heard Sabio said is piled up every day in Natumulan is just as disturbing.
Long-term, sustainable waste management, waste reduction and recycling options should be the focus of a nine-member Task Force dedicated to solving this problem.
Their targets should include reducing the cost of municipal/city solid waste through assessment and implementation of best waste disposal methods and programs.
Corollary or tied to this is a thorough review of waste management, disposal and reduction technologies by solid waste professionals in relation to their impact on health, the environment and the community's economic development.
Cagayan de Oro City Mayor Oscar Moreno, Misamis Oriental Gov. Yevgeny Emano, barangay Natumulan chairman Enan Sabio and Tagoloan Mayor Paulino Emano should attend this summit with the academe, NGOs, civil society groups, the Church and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).
Let this garbage problem be resolved by top leaders and the stakeholders which include the public. I think the garbage problem should be prioritized along with security and poverty alleviation.
I think it was the great American actor Robert Redford who said during the Yosemite National park dedication in 1985 that the environment should be prioritized along with national security.
“The defense of our resources is just as important as defense abroad. Otherwise what is there to defend?” he said. I wholeheartedly agree with him.
(Susan Palmes-Dennis is a veteran journalist from Cagayan de Oro City, Misamis Oriental,Northern Mindanao in the Philippines is now a teacher assistant in one of the school systems in the Carolinas.)