MAKING OUR ENVIRONMENT CLEAN

MARIA CRISTINA LACANILAO MORALES

The government has called on everyone, including the youth, to act to make our environment comfortable and clean, saying there should be no place and no space, for dirt, dust, and darkness in our communities. This, as the country recently observed the National Community Development Day, where all local government units (LGUs) were asked to participate in the nationwide cleanup drive dubbed the “Kalinisan sa Bagong Pilipinas” Program. President Ferdinand Marcos emphasized that the changes the Filipinos want for the country must start in the villages, saying we should let barangays be the laboratory of workable ideas, a showcase of what we can achieve together, and proof that the basic government unit, the barangay, teems with best practices. Starting with order and cleanliness, he said Filipinos do not deserve dirty, dingy, or dark communities. So he urged the local officials, including the newly elected village and youth council officials, to take the lead in cleaning up all roads, canals, markets, and schools. He said those who are in the villages are the front-liners of the government, and the first responders to people in distress. If their work is uninterrupted, community development should not be celebrated just one day throughout the year, but every day. The President also called for public participation, saying pollution and waste problems could only be addressed if everyone, not just the government, has the “solid will” to help. The country, he said, would succeed in addressing waste mismanagement if Filipinos adopt the habit of not littering and seeking a “clean and green" community.

-oOoThe author is a Teacher I at SITIO MINDANAO INTEGRATED SCHOOL