Bankal chief denies residents dumped trash in brgy hall
The village chief of Barangay Bankal in Lapu-Lapu City has denied reports that his constituents are dumping their garbage at the front yard of their barangay hall.
On why there are several sacks filled with trash within the premises of the barangay hall yesterday, Inot clarified that the collected garbage are all subject for segregation, a tasked assigned to job-order workers of the barangay's Clean and Green program.
“Wala man na nila gilabay diri. Kolektahon man namo ang mga basura, hinakot man na namo gikan sa mga sitio unya i-segregate,” said Bankal Barangay Captain Mario Inot.
Inot said the barangay is following the city's "No segregation, no collection" mandate.
He said that trash are collected daily from the eight sitios of the barangay.
Inot said if trash items will not be segregated from biodegradable, non-biodegradable, or recyclable items, the barangay will face a penalty, ranging from P2,000 to P3,000.
The other 29 barangays in the city are also doing the same procedure, said Inot.
The collection of garbage at the barangay level is from 6 a.m. until 9 a.m. The segregation process, on the other hand, starts from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m.
After segregation, the items will be transferred to the city's Material Recovery Facility (MRF) in Barangay Mactan.
“Kung di makuha (sa barangay) pananglitan sa highway, ang (Clean and Green) sa City mao'y mo – kolekta,” he explained.
The city's garbage collectors gather the garbage bags from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m., 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., and 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. daily.
These items will be sorted out in an area in Barangay Gun-ob before they will be transported to the MRF in Barangay Mactan.
The recyclable items, after going through the MRF, will be mixed with cement and will be moulded into footpaths, or traffic cones, said Inot.
In her state of the city address last year, Mayor Paz Radaza said the issue on Solid Waste Management was among the city government's challenges.
She added that the City Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO) has been conducting information drives and campaigns on proper waste segregation.
City Ordinance 484-97 is the Comprehensive Environmental Sanitation Code of Lapu-Lapu City created in 2005 under then-mayor and former congressman Arturo “Boy” Radaza, the present mayor's husband.
The city government's campaign is in line with Republic Act 9003 (an Act providing for an ecological solid waste management program, creating necessary institutional mechanisms and incentives, declaring certain acts prohibited and providing penalties, appropriating funds therefor and for other purposes).
Radaza urges barangay captains and their constituents to be at the forefront of implementation.
“We cannot do it if the city government does all the work alone. I believe it must be a collaborative effort among the city government, the barangay officials and its people. Sa matag panimalay nag-gikan ang atong basura. Mao nga angayan lang nga sa tagsa-tagsa ninyo nga panimalay, i-practice ang segregation. Dispose your garbage only at the scheduled time of collection,” she said in her speech.