El Nido to hold “cleanest and greenest” barangay challenge
The municipality of El Nido is set to implement a P500,000 prize challenge for the cleanest and greenest local barangay. Town Mayor Nieves Rosento said the contest, to be held in December, is aimed at encouraging residents to participate in maintaining cleanliness and orderliness in the barangays in compliance with Republic Act 9003 (Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000). “Sa ngayong ay masaya tayo na nakikita natin silang innovative at creative. Meron na silang mga basurahan na gawa ng kawayan,” she said in a phone interview over the weekend. During her visit to the barangays, Mayor Rosento said she was surprised to see that many had already installed their own garbage bins made of indigenous materials such as bamboo. Some had also landscaped their areas with ornamental and flowering plants displayed prominently in their barangay buildings in a bid to become winners of the clean and green contest. Materials recovery facilities have now been established too, for waste separation. The overall winner will receive P500 thousand, second place will get P400 thousand, and P300 thousand for the winner of third place. The awarding of winners will be done on December 8, the day the town celebrates the annual “Kulambo Festival,” which is also now known too, as “Kayadan sa Kaunlaran.” The festival that has been going on for 18 years is a malaria awareness-raising activity of the local residents to fight the mosquito-borne disease. “Dati kasi ay mataas ang malaria sa bayan ng El Nido kaya kinakampanya yan at ginagawa yang Kulambo Festival na ngayon ay tinatawag naming Kayadan sa Kaunlaran,” she explained. She said that the annual celebration which usually focuses on health and livelihood will now add the search for the cleanest and greenest barangays. “Kung dati ang activity na ito ay nakasentro lang sa health at livelihood, ngayon ay dadagdagan natin ng para sa environment at ito yung ating paghahanap sa three cleanest and greenest barangays,” she said.