Living without a comfort room
COMFORT room, or commonly called the CR, is as vital as the bedroom where one can enjoy utmost privacy in the world.
It is where one finds “comfort” in eliminating those “bad” feels.
It may be unclear who invented the toilet first, but research says that the honor should be given to the Scots and the Greeks dating back to 3,000 B.C. when they built stone huts equipped with drains extending from recesses in their walls, a feature that historians believe were for residents’ bathroom needs.
Time has evolved. The more developed is the society, the more sanitized it becomes and vice versa.
However, the development in civilization in the Philippines has not fully developed some of the society’s position that to have a toilet in their houses is a responsibility of each household.
Like other social challenges--poverty, education and employment, the subject of toilet is important.
It is important because lack of excremental hygiene is a national health hazard just as other problems the implications are relative to those who suffer from unemployment and poverty.
Along the stretch of Magallanes street in Davao City, near the riverbanks to be exact, some residents of Barangays 1-A and 2-A struggle each day for not having their own toilets.
Mechelle Dayop, 21, single, of Barangay 2-A, said it is a challenge for her to do her “obligation” everyday as her boarding house does not have a decent toilet.
Dayop, a saleslady, is a native of Banaybanay, Davao Oriental. She is in the city with the goal to help her mother sustain their daily living expenses in their hometown.
“Diri ko nag board kay barato ra man gud tapos duol ra sa akong ginatrabahoan. Dili na nako gina mind ang place kay pobre ra man ta. Wala koy choice, alangan man inarte pa ko nga ang tumong man gyud sa akong pag anhi diri sa Davao kay mag trabaho gyud para sa akong pamilya nga nabilin didto sa amo,” she said.
“Ang boarding house para sa akoa kay para lang gyud naa koy matulogan gud inig uli nako magabie gikan trabaho. Syempre kapoy kaayo ka, matulog gyud ka diba? Naa koy uncle nag puyo sa Bucana pero dili man gud ko ganahan makig-ipon sa ila, maulaw ko,” she added.
Dayop pays P800 monthly, including the electric and water bills. There are two of them who occupy the room. She is with her female co-worker who also hails from the province. She said her room actually costs P1,600 if she has to occupy it alone. The boarding house has other three rooms with around two to three occupants each.
The boarding house only has one toilet which is located at the back of the house.
“Apil gud sa mga factor nga dapat inconsider ang CR. Alangan diha gud ta maligo, mangihi, malibang,” she said.
However, she said she was forced to buy an “arenola” or urinal pan because there was a time when she cannot endure any longer the “call of nature.”
“Naay kaisa kalibangon na gyud kaayo ko tapos naay tao ang CR ba, naay nalibang pud. Wala koy nabuhat, naghulat na lang gyud ko kay dili man pwede pahawaon nako siya. Didto ko nakahimamat nga kinahanglan gyud nako mag palit ug arenola para emergency,” she said.
She said she admires how useful the urinal pan is, considering that their place has only one toilet and she has “something” to “release.”
So when she needs to do it, she places plastic cellophane on her red big arenola and do the thing right inside her room. After that, she throws the plastic cellophane with her feces inside and disposes it to the river.
Other boarders also do the same, according to Dayop.
Meanwhile, another resident named Edilberto Gomeza, 59, married, has a different story to share about his “that thing” moment.
Gomeza has been living in Barangay 1-A since he was young. Now, he lives in the same house together with his wife and five children— three of them got married and lived in a house built beside theirs.
He recalled that during their early years in Magallanes, he excreted wherever he felt like doing so.
He said in the absence of proper toilet facilities, residents had to defecate and urinate wherever they could. Defecating on the road, open spaces, or just easing themselves in the river was very common.
When he learned to have a fixed house, he built his own toilet. The Gomezas has one toilet mainly constructed along the riprap where their house is located.
“Aw. Mauwaw pud ta sigeg kalibang bisag asa uy. Hugaw baya na nato. Unya mao to nag palit kog bowl, gisiminto nako, gitarung, mao ni naa mi CR. Pero mao pud lagi pag flush namo diretso sa sapa,” he said.
Disposal of wastes is in the river below. He said residents in the area have this common toilet. Others, he said, are just rooms with holes on the top and the river underneath. The waste of the human body just enters the river freely.
During low tide, he said it has become a challenge to deal with smell and the need was felt to have a decent toilet, which can intake human wastes and dispose these of out of the house instantly and, thus, help maintain cleanliness.
Davao City has crafted a comprehensive and integrated septage and sewerage management program-Davao City Septage and Sewerage Ordinance—which was approved by the City Council in February 2010, but without its implementing rules and regulations (IRR), it was nothing but paper.
Its IRR has just been signed by Mayor Sara Duterte before she went on her maternity leave.
Based on the IRR of the Septage and Sewerage Management Ordinance of Davao City, all building plans for residential, commercial and industrial, including those for apartelles and condominiums, before it is approved by the City Engineer’s Office, shall conform to the design of the sanitary plumbing and septic tanks specifications.
The IRR states that septic tanks shall be built of solid durable material, shall be watertight and shall conform to the applicable Philippine materials standards.
Septic tanks shall be constructed under any building and not within 25 meters from any existing source of water supply.
Existing septic tanks that cannot be repaired or upgraded shall be desludged within one year from the effectivity of the ordinance.
In residential areas where individual lot area is less than 50 square meters, or where the area is characterized by inadequate land space, a communal or individual septic tank is required to be constructed.
It will be the duty of the owner or coowner, administrator or contractor to inform the ESS of the City Health Office (CHO) that the newly-constructed or repaired septic tank, sewerage treatment facility or alternative treatment system, with prior plan is ready for inspection, the ordinance stated.
All septic tanks are required to be desludged by an accredited mobile service provider every five years or when the sludge volume is already one half of the total capacity of the septic tank, or when the septic tank becomes ineffective.
Anyone who violates the provisions shall be fined not less than P1,000 but not more than P2,000 for first offense; second offense has a fine of less than P2,000 but not more than P3,000; and for third and succeeding offenses shall be fined no less than P3,000 but not more than P5,000 and imprisonment of not less than one month but not more than six months.
Under the IRR, the local government, through its barangay unit, may construct communal toilets and septic tanks in areas where informal settlers cannot afford to build.
It states that the barangay will be administering the maintenance of the toilets and/or septic tanks but the community shall pay for its usage.
The City Government will bear the cost of construction through its annual appropriation for the implementation of the IRR and may be charged to the users after.
“Payment may either be in form of installment or through user fees, or other scheme deemed appropriate to the barangay and shall be remitted to the city,” the IRR read.
It says that the payment of the cost of construction will be paid in monthly basis with five-year period and the mode of payment shall be stated in the memorandum of agreement between the City Government and the barangay unit.
“Upon full recovery of the cost of construction of toilets and/or septic tanks, the City through its City Treasurer’s Office shall issue a certificate of full payment to the barangay,” it stated.
“The barangay will continue to collect user’s fees that shall be used for the maintenance, renovation, improvements and construction of additional toilets and/or septic tanks,” the IRR stated.