Towards a sustainable future: How local governments advocate for urban sustainability
the planet and creating a sustainable future for generations to come,” she added.
Known as the “Tiger City” in Metro Manila, Mandaluyong showcased its efforts in promoting climate change awareness and disaster resilience initiatives.
Under the leadership of Mayor Ben Abalos, the city continues to ramp up its efforts in protecting the environment and mitigating pollution by introducing E-Vehicles in Mandaluyong’s public transportation system and conducting regular training and seminars for all government employees and barangay personnel on the city’s environmental laws and ordinances.
The city government also deployed Barangay Environmental Police who assist its Solid Waste Management Office-City Environmental Management Department in enforcing the city’s policies.
Abalos’ daughter-in-law, former Mayor and now Vice Mayor Menchie Abalos, also created revolutionary programs and systems in Mandaluyong’s disaster preparedness and response.
In August 2022, the City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office (DRRMO) held a program together with the Office of Civil Defense-National Capital Region on the different disaster and calamity monitoring and response procedures amid the growing threat of climate change and other natural disasters.
The Incident Command System (ICS) Executive Course aimed to increase the city government employees’ knowledge of the ICS by virtue of Republic Act No. 10121, the “Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act of 2010.”
In July, the city government announced that its multi-hazard, automated, and hyper-local early warning system “Project MENCHIE” (Mandaluyong Enhanced monitoring of Natural Hazards and Climate for Household Information and Education) was upgraded as the city continues to boost its climate and natural disaster monitoring.
The new features of Project MENCHIE include a MultiDisaster Automated Risk Assessment Generator for data such as heat index, six-hour rain forecast, and six-hour accumulated rain for a specific barangay.
This map-based multi-risk assessment generator provides barangay-level color-coded risk assessment for both observed and forecast weather events which updates every 10 minutes, giving residents an idea on which barangays are currently experiencing and will expect heavy rains or extreme heat.
The generator also shows other possible hazards that can affect the Greater Metro Manila Area (GMMA) such as earthquake-induced landslide, flood, ground rupture, ground shaking, liquefaction, rain-induced landslides, storm surge, and tsunamis.
Another upgrade of the system is its capability to send alerts via SMS, which are also emailed to barangay officials, to warn them 15 to 30 minutes in advance if there are incoming lightning strikes and thunderstorms over/near their vicinity.
This gives barangay officials the capability to disseminate warnings or alerts to their respective constituents. They will also receive via email a 24/7 daily weather forecast summary which they can easily disseminate to the community.
Despite being the smallest city in Metro Manila, the city of San Juan led by Mayor Francis
Zamora, has become one of the metropolis’ pioneer cities in introducing breakthrough programs in promoting sustainability and environmental awareness.
In 2022, the city partnered with several environmental protection organizations as it moved towards a greener city. These include the signing of several memoranda of agreement (MOA) with Plastic Credit Exchange and Eastwest Builders Inc.
Zamora signed three MOAs with Greenpeace under the Livable and Lovable Cities Program.
One of the agreements is the Air Quality Monitoring MOA that will address the air pollution in the city. Air quality monitoring devices will be placed in strategic places such as the Agora Public Market and Pinaglabanan Shrine to check the air quality. Data gathered from these devices will allow Greenpeace and San Juan City to come up with plans and projects to clean the air.
The Alternative Delivery Systems for Communities MOA encourages San Juanenos to reuse their containers and minimize single-use plastic. A station will be placed in Brgy. Onse where residents can buy wellness products by bringing their own containers.
The last MOA is the Better Cities System, a project designed to develop maps containing data on best practices of the community for information awareness campaigns.
The MOA between San Juan and Plastic Credit Exchange, dubbed as the “Aling Tindera Program”, is a project where residents can bring their recyclable plastics to recycling stations in exchange for cash in Brgy. Pasadena and Brgy. Corazon de Jesus.
Zamora and Eastwest Builders, Inc. launched the country’s very first reverse vending machine, called the Reverse Vending YC-301.
The reverse vending machine collects different beverage containers and can identify 100 different barcodes from 100 different bottles (350, 500, 1000, 1500 ml) and standardsized aluminum cans. It can store up to 300 (300 ml) cans and 400 (300 ml) PET bottles. It is also equipped with a touch screen feature and compression module to improve the capacity of the storage.
Once the RVM is full, Incom Tomra, the developer of the machine, will collect the bottles and be brought to recycling facilities.
San Juan City together with Greenpeace Philippines, Zero Waste, and Impact Hub Manila launched the “Kuha sa Tingi” project, that will install refilling stations in 10 existing sarisari stores in the city where the public can purchase different liquid commodities such as shampoo and body wash in smaller quantities.
“San Juan City is committed to addressing the problem of plastic pollution in the country. We believe that communities can lead the way to show that we can reduce, if not totally eliminate, single-use plastics. This project protects the environment, reduces plastic waste, creates livelihoods, and supports a slow circular economy,” Zamora explained.
The quaint and quiet city of Marikina has long been a “sustainability champion,” hailed for its cleanliness and orderliness, as well as the discipline of its citizens.
In 2021, Marikina City was a recipient of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Environmentally Sustainable Cities Award, citing 100 percent household access to water infrastructure, efficient solid waste management, and abundance of green spaces.
The focus of the local government under Mayor Marcelino “Marcy” Teodoro’s third term is consistency and maintenance, emphasizing on disaster resilience.
The biggest project they are undertaking is the dredging and widening operations of the Marikina River, as part of the Marikina River Restoration Project (MRRP) in cooperation with the DPWH, DENR, MMDA, and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
The daily dredging operations have proved effective in reducing the severity of flooding in flood-prone areas in Marikina and increasing the carrying capacity of the river.
The local government has shown support for the conservation advocacies of the Masungi Georeserve Foundation in Rizal. Teodoro was one of the Metro Manila mayors who joined Masungi’s call to cancel quarrying operations in the Upper Marikina Watershed in June 2022.
Teodoro strictly ordered the protection and conservation of their own ecosystem at the Marikina River Park through various tree-planting activities and cleanup operations by the riverside.
Complementary to these are the clearing and cleaning of the city’s inner waterways and drainage system, which has a combined length of almost 903 kilometers, with intersecting pipes all flowing out to the Marikina River.
Marikina City touts a comprehensive Solid-Waste Management Policy that includes door-to-door garbage collection, compliance to color-coded garbage containers and waste segregation around the city.
Instead of disposed oil clogging drainages and polluting the river, the City Environmental Management Office (CEMO) collects and transports used oil from households and establishments to the city’s Materials Recovery
Facility (MRF), where it is