Had the national and local governments enforced the provisions of Republic Act (RA) 9003 — the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000 — to the letter when it was enacted 25 years ago, perhaps we would not be facing the perennial problems of uncollected garbage, unsegregated waste and the indiscriminate disposal of plastic bottles and other refuse.
These wastes are among the major causes of clogged drainage systems, canals and waterways — and, consequently, flash floods in Cebu City and elsewhere whenever heavy rains come pouring down.
But it is never too late for Cebu City to launch a serious and sustained program to teach and encourage people to properly dispose of their garbage and household waste.
Cebu City launched “Basura Namo, Kaugmaon Nato,” a school-based program, at Lahug National High School (Night) on Monday, July 20, 2026. The program seeks to empower students to clean up their communities by collecting household and school waste and stuffing them inside 1.5-liter plastic eco-bottles.
At the launch, Mayor Nestor Archival said around 90 percent of the waste found along local roads comes directly from households. Improper waste disposal, he noted, is a major cause of the city’s persistent flooding because trash often clogs drainage systems and canals.
“What we are doing today requires the participation of everyone in Cebu City, especially students. Every child has a responsibility to make sure that our garbage is not simply thrown away,” the mayor said.
The City Government is offering an incentive of P0.50 per kilogram of collected eco-bottles. The money, however, will go toward the class fund rather than individual students.
I fully support the program and sincerely hope it succeeds. But let us also remember that environmental initiatives cannot depend solely on campaigns, slogans and school activities. They must be supported by the consistent enforcement of the law.
In Victoria, Australia, where I had the opportunity to stay for more than two years, there is a Container Deposit Scheme through which people receive a 10-cent refund for eligible empty drink containers. Residents can simply bring their bottles and cans to designated collection points and receive their refund.
I wonder if a similar system could work in Cebu.
Now, let us go back to RA 9003. Among the law’s declarations of policy are provisions that are particularly relevant to our continuing garbage and flooding problems. The law seeks to:
• ensure the protection of public health and the environment;
• utilize environmentally sound methods that maximize the use of valuable resources and encourage resource conservation and recovery;
• ensure the proper segregation, collection, transport, storage, treatment and disposal of solid waste through the adoption of the best environmental practices in ecological waste management; and
• encourage greater private-sector participation in solid-waste management.
It is this last policy that makes me particularly aghast when I recall how a private sanitary landfill was allegedly made difficult to operate by a local government.
Politics, as I was told, played such an ugly role that some local government officials allegedly treated the operation almost like a cash cow. If true, such conduct is not merely a political problem; it directly undermines the very purpose of RA 9003.
I sometimes wonder whether the National Solid Waste Management Commission created under the law is still effectively performing its mandate. If it exists but has failed to ensure the effective implementation of the law, then it has failed in its mission.
I have yet to hear much about the Provincial Solid Waste Management Board or the City and Municipal Solid Waste Management Boards, which, under the law, are primarily responsible for implementing and enforcing RA 9003 within their respective jurisdictions.
Section 21 of RA 9003 makes the segregation of solid waste at the source mandatory. This includes household, institutional, industrial, commercial and agricultural waste.
But has anyone observed what actually happens in many places?
The garbage collectors do the segregation — right at the garbage truck. That is precisely the opposite of what the law requires.
Segregation should begin at the source: in the household, the school, the office, the establishment and on the farm. It should not be left to garbage collectors to sort through mixed waste after everything has already been thrown together.
Section 48 of RA 9003 enumerates 16 prohibited acts. Among them are:
• littering, throwing, or dumping waste materials in public places such as roads, sidewalks, canals, esteros and parks;
• operating or undertaking collection and transportation activities in violation of sanitation and other legal requirements;
• open burning of solid waste;
• causing or permitting the collection of non-segregated or unsorted waste;
• open dumping or burying of biodegradable or non-biodegradable materials in flood-prone areas;
• the manufacture, distribution, or use of non-environmentally acceptable packaging materials;
• the importation of consumer products packaged in non-environmentally acceptable materials; and
• the transport and dumping of collected domestic, industrial, commercial and institutional waste in places other than the facilities prescribed under the law.
Pardon my ignorance, but I have yet to hear of anyone being charged or penalized for violating these provisions.
Perhaps one reason why people have little regard for RA 9003 is the relatively light penalty imposed for certain violations — a fine of not less than P300 but not more than P1,000, or community service of 15 to 30 days.
A law without enforcement is merely a suggestion.
And a law that people know will not be enforced is a law that people will eventually ignore.
Perhaps the government should take a lesson from Singapore, where sanitation and environmental laws are strictly enforced. There, the law is not merely written in the statute books — it is implemented.
I am not suggesting that Cebu should simply copy Singapore. But we should learn from countries and cities that have successfully made cleanliness and discipline part of everyday life.
The issue is not that we lack laws. The problem is neither the absence of laws nor the lack of ideas, but the absence of consistent enforcement and accountability.
And until the law is enforced — from the household that throws plastic into the street, to the business that ignores its waste obligations, to the local official who tolerates violations or uses garbage management for political or personal advantage — our garbage problem will continue to return, like the floodwaters after every heavy rain.
Twenty-five years after RA 9003 was enacted, perhaps it is time to ask the uncomfortable question: was the law ever truly implemented—or was it simply filed away, forgotten, and overlooked?
Because when the garbage finally blocks the drains, the floodwaters do not ask who was responsible.