Learning from clean and green Sagada years ago

HAPPY WEEKEND

Gina Dizon

(Part 11)

SAGADA, Mountain Province -- It was a  revealing  radio interview with Jed Angway,  chairman of the Sagada Solid Waste Association Inc (SSWAI) and  Rose Baniaga-Wangdali, SSWAI Secretary. 

During the years that  Sagada  earned a name for being clean and green  municipality for  five consecutive years in 1995-2000, there was no SSWAI then. There even was no Materials Recovery Facility (MRF).

But what made the municipality get a name for being  clean green municipality for  five consecutive  years  before the birth of SSWAI?

“The  support of the LGU leadership then led by mayor Thomas Killip who  encouraged the community through groups and households to be part of a clean and green Sagada,” Angway said.

Moral support from the LGU leadership was felt among members of the Sagada Environmental Guides Association (SEGA) and the Sagada Operators and Drivers  Association (SODA) who conducted  regular clean up on the streets, rivers  and  the town’s tourism spots, Jed added.

The conduct of  tourism-related trainings was made possible with monetary support from the LGU. School children were  encouraged to  keep the premises of  their  schools  including  the  streets clean.  They  helped in regular clean-up  of  dirt in  the community.

Households were encouraged  to dig their own compost pits and reduce waste.  This world is getting consumerist with anything bought coming in plastic  wrappers, plastic boxes and styrofoams such that buying anything not necessarily a need is a reminder.

The  MRF was then built  in 2001 following the establishment of SSWAI in year 2000 which was also the year when RA 9003, the Ecological  Solid Waste Management  Act was enacted.  Segregation is a basic principle and practise and the  SSWAi was   active  on this.

Non-biodegradable waste were  collected  by SSWAI members in the MRF site then made possible with the  material and monetary support of the  LGU then led by Mayor  Killip and the urging of  environmentalist  Binggirl Clemente from Manila.

Bio-degradable waste was taken by SSWAII  member  Mark Abad and this processed to vermiculture,  Wangdali noted.

Days when tourists were at peak  during the Christmas, Lenten  and  fiesta celebration of the  town let  SSWAII get the support of  students in cleaning up the  main streets of the town.  Eco-aides were specially hired by SSWAI during the fiesta celebration  first week of  February with the support of the LGU,  Wangdali said.

Worth mentioning  are SEGA and SSWAI members- the late Ben Yodong,  police officer  and the late Roderick Gulian, sports trainor and environmentalist- and senior citizens led by retired school teachers  who were active in conducting community clean ups and leading in waste segregation to realize a clean and green Sagada.

The MRF served its purpose well with the community bringing their non-biodegradable waste here and leaving their compostable materials in their backyards.

The concerted effort of the LGU, local organizations and the community made Sagada  garner top  8  in the nationwide search for Barangay Model of the Year in 2004  for  implementing  eco waste management system  in  accordance with  RA 9003.  The search is a program of the  Department  of Environment and Natural Resources, Department  of Interior and Local Government in partnership with  Earth Day Network Philippines.

It was in  2008 when  the program slackened with  an MRF no more  with the building of the  Centrum structure where  the MRF was then located.  AN MRF was initiated  by the LGU in 2011 and left  hanging with no MRF equipment.

And  the rest is history leaving a challenge to the  current LGU leadership to learn from history or rather,  practise basic waste segregation and give teeth to the national and municipal ordinance on waste management.