DAVAO City will hold the first-ever Barangay Ecological Solid Waste Management Summit either in December or the first quarter of January 2024.
Councilor Temujin Ocampo, the committee on the environment chair, told TIMES that the summit is envisioned to be a refresher course for newly elected winners of the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) next month.
“Nag-pursue ko aning Ecological Solid Waste Management Summit, purposely to remind the people, barangay officials of their obligations og ilang role sa atong solid waste management,” Ocampo said.
“Hopefully, with the new sets of barangay officials, basin madasig sila kay dako man gud ni nga problema, so tanan ni, involved nato sila tanan,” he added.
Ocampo said the summit will focus on addressing the problem of waste management by brainstorming techniques of possible inventions with the input of barangay functionaries.
He recognized the need for the summit after the recent Ecological Policies Survey of Interfacing of Development Interventions for Sustainability (IDIS), which concluded that only a few Davaoeños are aware of green policies and laws.
Justin Pungyan, IDIS environmental research officer, earlier cited a gap in the green policies, including “lack of information dissemination, clarity and understanding, and no enforcing body to monitor,” resulting in the low-level awareness of Dabawenyos.
Ocampo recognized the support of the Department of Interior and Local Government in performing inventories in various barangays to ensure the implementation of the Materials Recovery Facility (MRF).
He also acknowledged the barangays that continued to observe their own schedule for garbage, especially the downtown areas, which typically have no space to create the MRF.
The official said coastal barangays are the most affected since waste often ends up in the ocean.
“Sila man gud recipients sa mga basura gikan sa taas, kung mobaha padulong sa ilaha, but we cannot say sila gyud ang source,” he added.
Ocampo said they are considering the total ban on plastic confetti and balloons as they also contribute to endangering the environment.
