Monday, October 27, 2014
Amidst
the national campaign to a cleaner and greener Philippines, it is evident that the
initiative of the Republic Act 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act
of the Philippines is not making its way efficiently into the hearts of the
Filipino people. Apart from the fact that support from the local government is so
little, the community in itself is not assertive enough to carry out the
programs of the said Republic Act. Moreover, it is clear that beyond the issue
of knowledge deficit, there is the lack of implementing efforts on the part of
the government.
What
the Community Health Strand of the Medical School curriculum has shown us is
that wherever we may go, the problems of the community remain the same –
knowledge deficit of most laws, health services and campaigns to avoid health
problems. This is no different in terms of the implementation of the solid
waste management act. The famous line itself says that “ignorance of the law
excuses no one”, and it may be a possibility that one day, the community people
will be penalized for the damage they are inflicting upon nature and mankind
itself.
Improper
waste disposal was one of the problems identified in the barangay assembly held
last April 2014 where several of the barangay residents raised their concern
about several households who would throw their garbage at the nearby spring,
which would contribute to the rise of water especially during heavy rainfall.
Of the households surveyed, only 40.2% practice waste segregation and a
surprising 60.6% burn their garbage. True to the complaint of several
residents, 23.5% of the residents throw their garbage at the barangay
river/spring. Because of these and other problems noted, the Team Luop decided
that a Program to address improper solid waste management be put into place.
The
conceptualization of the SWM project began with the creation of the SWM core
group which took place on the night of October 8, 2014. Headed by the barangay
captain, the core team consisted of an Engineering head, an Education head, a
Livelihood head, and an Implementation head. Also, 1 purok leader was chosen to
spearhead projects in the purok level. 3 eco-aides, for a total of 18, were
also chosen per purok to help implement projects in the 6 puroks. After the
basic structure for the core group was done, a Basic Orientation Seminar on SWM
was conducted last October 9-11, 2014 at the Luop Barangay Hall, where the
tasks and purpose of the SWM Committee was delineated.
Moreover, the 2-day seminar themed “Brigada Kontra Basura: A Sustainable Solid Waste Management Program for Barangay Luop” included lectures on the Basic concepts of SWM, Waste Analysis Characterization Study, guidelines for Sorting and identifying solid wastes, recycling and composting, establishment of a materials recovery facility (MRF), and orientation on SWM Plan Making. The seminar ended with the draft on SWM Plan already established.
To be able to efficienctly implement projects and plans for the ecological solid waste management plan, the SWM Committee appointed three representatives per purok to work on the project implementation per purok - and they were named the Luop Eco-Aides (LEA). The LEA first came into action with the Waste Assessment and Characterization Study (WACS), which is an important constituent of the Solid Waste Management Plan. The WACS Orientation, headed by the project coordinator of Solid Waste Management, Ms. Sherhata Adjid, commenced last October 12, 2014. The houses for the waste assessment and characterization was chosen through random sampling, and 6 households per purok were chosen at the end of the first day for the said activity. Houses were instructed to seggregate their wastes into biodegradable and non-biodegradable wastes for the next 7 days and the Luop Eco Aides along with the supervision of the Team Luop went out to each each chosen household to weigh the wastes and characterize them according to several classifications listed in the WACS form (such as papers, cartons, backyard wastes, food wastes, glass, etc.)
Solid Waste Management is not all serious as people think it might be, because there is also a creative side to it. The initiative of a narrative reading and video presentation for pre-school and elementary students was conceptualized by Ms. Adjid, SWM's project coordinator. Entitled "Basura Monster", this narrative reading and video presentation aimed to increase the knowledge and understanding of the young children on the importance of waste segration and care of the natural resource as well. This program took place on two separate days - October 13 was scheduled for Grades 1-6 pupils and October 20 was a date with the Day Care children.
To gauge the prior knowledge of these students on waste disposal and segregation, 10 random students were given one waste each which they would need to classify according to Biodegradable, Non-biodegradable (Recyclables), and Non-biodegradable (Residual). This part was done free of the assistance of the teachers and classmates in order to objectively identify the existing knowledge of the students in waste segregation. The narrative reading and video presentation now stepped in to help increase awareness of these children regarding waste segregation and the effects of improper waste disposal to nature and to self. Narrated by Ms. Madilou Dimple Sabellina, the video runs for about 6:30 seconds where Mr. Tony Paredes, Ms. Anne Torres, Mr. Edward Azman and Mr. Kerwin Faustino were Anna and Buboy (two children in the story who threw their waste everywhere), the Mayor and the Monster respectively. All these were done through a voice over while the video was playing.
Ending the session on Basura Monster, the activity done during the pre-test was done for the post-test, now informing the children if they got the answer right. Noticeably, more students would get the correct answer than during the pre-test. A reminder to the children encouraging them to practice waste segregation at home and in school.
Increasing knowledge on the importance of waste seggregation did not only involve school-aged children but the entire community as well. An activity sponsored by the Team Luop was used as springboard to initiate several programs for each CHP, and the SWM Awareness Program was part of it. This took place during October 16, where invited guest speaker Mr. Noel Fabrigas, the Municipal Environment Officer (MENRO) spoke about waste segregation and composting, and the essence of doing a Waste Assessment and Characterization Study. He also emphasized that the household is the root of majority of the wastes being produced nationwide, so he advised the families to start reduction of wastes from their home.
Moreover, to further implicate the importance of waste segregation and proper disposal in cleanliness and beautification of the barangay, a Synchronized Purok Clean-up Drive entitled "Palibot Limpyuhan Tungod sa Kalamboan" took place last October 18, 2014 where majority of the households in each purok participated. The Team also took this opportunity to re-iterate waste segregation and composting, during the pre-clean-up orientation done per purok. It was evident that the community people rose up to the challenge of cleaning their house, and ultimately, one household was awarded cleanest of all in their purok.
The SWM activities for this exposure came to a close with the formulation of the Barangay Solid Waste Management Plan, and the drafting of the SWM Ordinance which were all done and participated in by the SWM Committee. This plan formulation and Ordinance drafting will catapult the SWM projects to the next level and may yield the expected results for our plan as early as possible.
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| Efforts of Community People during Synchronize Barangay Clean-up; Luop Eco-Aides giving their best during the WACS. |
Solid Waste Management is not all serious as people think it might be, because there is also a creative side to it. The initiative of a narrative reading and video presentation for pre-school and elementary students was conceptualized by Ms. Adjid, SWM's project coordinator. Entitled "Basura Monster", this narrative reading and video presentation aimed to increase the knowledge and understanding of the young children on the importance of waste segration and care of the natural resource as well. This program took place on two separate days - October 13 was scheduled for Grades 1-6 pupils and October 20 was a date with the Day Care children.
To gauge the prior knowledge of these students on waste disposal and segregation, 10 random students were given one waste each which they would need to classify according to Biodegradable, Non-biodegradable (Recyclables), and Non-biodegradable (Residual). This part was done free of the assistance of the teachers and classmates in order to objectively identify the existing knowledge of the students in waste segregation. The narrative reading and video presentation now stepped in to help increase awareness of these children regarding waste segregation and the effects of improper waste disposal to nature and to self. Narrated by Ms. Madilou Dimple Sabellina, the video runs for about 6:30 seconds where Mr. Tony Paredes, Ms. Anne Torres, Mr. Edward Azman and Mr. Kerwin Faustino were Anna and Buboy (two children in the story who threw their waste everywhere), the Mayor and the Monster respectively. All these were done through a voice over while the video was playing.Ending the session on Basura Monster, the activity done during the pre-test was done for the post-test, now informing the children if they got the answer right. Noticeably, more students would get the correct answer than during the pre-test. A reminder to the children encouraging them to practice waste segregation at home and in school.
Increasing knowledge on the importance of waste seggregation did not only involve school-aged children but the entire community as well. An activity sponsored by the Team Luop was used as springboard to initiate several programs for each CHP, and the SWM Awareness Program was part of it. This took place during October 16, where invited guest speaker Mr. Noel Fabrigas, the Municipal Environment Officer (MENRO) spoke about waste segregation and composting, and the essence of doing a Waste Assessment and Characterization Study. He also emphasized that the household is the root of majority of the wastes being produced nationwide, so he advised the families to start reduction of wastes from their home.
Moreover, to further implicate the importance of waste segregation and proper disposal in cleanliness and beautification of the barangay, a Synchronized Purok Clean-up Drive entitled "Palibot Limpyuhan Tungod sa Kalamboan" took place last October 18, 2014 where majority of the households in each purok participated. The Team also took this opportunity to re-iterate waste segregation and composting, during the pre-clean-up orientation done per purok. It was evident that the community people rose up to the challenge of cleaning their house, and ultimately, one household was awarded cleanest of all in their purok.
The SWM activities for this exposure came to a close with the formulation of the Barangay Solid Waste Management Plan, and the drafting of the SWM Ordinance which were all done and participated in by the SWM Committee. This plan formulation and Ordinance drafting will catapult the SWM projects to the next level and may yield the expected results for our plan as early as possible.
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