Follow waste management law or else, Cagayan de Oro warns half of its barangays

CAGAYAN DE ORO, Philippines – The city government warned half of Cagayan de Oro’s barangays that they remain non-compliant with the solid waste management law, issuing a memorandum compelling them to follow the law, or else face the consequence of continued violations.

Engineer Armen Cuenca, head of the City Local Environment and Natural Resources Office (CLENRO), said on Thursday, April 4, that the warning was sent to half of the city’s 80 barangays in the last week of March, and they were given an extended 15-day deadline to comply.

The city government, he said, began the strict enforcement of the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000, 24 years after the law was passed.

Cuenca said the city’s barangay officials were ordered to issue executive orders or barangay ordinances on solid waste management, and create barangay ecological solid waste management committees to oversee the program’s implementation.

The barangay officials were also tasked to produce their own ecological solid waste management plans consistent with the city government’s program, and set up materials recovery facilities designed to receive, sort, process, and store compostable and recyclable materials.

The city government directed the barangay officials to submit monthly reports on the program’s progress based on a Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) memorandum circular issued to ensure effective solid waste management systems.

A document attached to the city government’s memorandum obtained by Rappler showed that out of 40 non-compliant barangays, 13 lack only one requirement, while the others need to comply with two to four of the requirements. 

Cuenca warned that failure to comply will result in notices of violation for the barangay chairpersons.

Role of barangays

Section 10 of Republic Act 9003 states that the “segregation and collection of solid waste shall be conducted at the barangay level, specifically for biodegradable, compostable, and reusable waste.” 

Cuenca also pointed out that the barangays are responsible for collecting and transporting segregated recyclable and biodegradable waste to their materials recovery facilities. 

“That’s why they need a solid waste management plan, so we know what they are going to do,” he told Rappler.

Cuena also said the barangays can forge agreements with junk shops to collect recyclable waste, which can then be sold.

Segregation, he said, should be a top priority in every barangay, as it would help extend the lifespan of the city’s sanitary landfill. 

In Barangay Balubal, for example, residual waste has been reduced from 9,000 to 2,500 kilograms per week since implementing the “No Segregation, No Collection” policy.

Challenges

Establishing a materials recovery facility has been a challenge for Barangay Puerto, one of the non-compliant villages, according to village councilor John Alef Cordova, who chairs the barangay’s solid waste management committee. 

Cordova said they are still searching for a suitable location to build the facility. 

“What I did temporarily is to use an open area in lower [Puerto] for recyclable materials,” Cordova.

He said the barangay also lacks a vehicle to transport waste to their temporary facility, although they plan to purchase a garbage truck. Currently, a motorcycle with a sidecar is being used for garbage collection in some of Puerto’s areas.

Cordova appealed to the city government to give them more time to comply with the 2000 law. – Rappler.com