The Iloilo provincial government is scaling up its campaign on zero waste through the implementation of various waste management initiatives as the province celebrates National Zero Waste Month this January.
Mitzi Penaflorida, supervising environmental management specialist of the Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office (PENRO), in an interview over PIA Kapihan Regionwide radio program, said the provincial government has prepared a series of activities aimed at strengthening management and reduction of waste in the province and support of the celebration.
Penaflorida said the activities will highlight the use of 5Rs — refuse, reduce, reuse, repurpose, and recycle, as well as avoid single use of plastics as an efficient strategy for managing waste.
Another waste management strategy, according to Penaflorida, that will be given focus is the 4Bs, which stands for “basura isulod sa Basurahan, Bag, Bulsa kag Botelya, intended to prevent and reduce garbage being thrown everywhere and polluting waterways.
The provincial celebration kicked off on January 8 with the provincewide Limpyo Iloilo, a clean-up drive, participated in by all the municipalities and Passi City.
“This is the second part of our convergence clean up as our local government units also joined the Kalinisan sa Bagong Pilipinas program which was launched by the Department of the Interior and Local Government simultaneously nationwide on January 6,” Penaflorida said.
On the Capitol grounds, Governor Arthur Defensor led provincial government officials and employees in a Trash Walk activity which collected a total of 27.55 kilograms of waste, mostly PET bottles, bottle caps, plastic food wrappers, plastic cups, straws, and cigarette butts.
For the remaining Wednesdays of the month, Penaflorida is inviting government employees to join them for the Linis Galaw activity featuring Zumba exercises and an exchange of recyclable materials for tokens and incentives.
Other activities include Barangay Kapitolyo Waste Analysis and Characterization Study (WACS) on January 16 and 18; IEC and Tapon to Ipon Caravan on January 22 to 26; Zero Waste Forum on January 30; and the launching and inauguration of Barangay Kapitolyo Eco-SWM Center.
On January 27, during the Kasadyahan sa Kabanwahanan, Penaflorida said PENRO teams will be deployed in the different judging areas to see to it that proper waste segregation is observed.
“We are encouraging everyone not to carelessly throw their trash. We want to see the event end with no litter scattered in the judging areas,” Penaflorida said.
For the first time, the provincial government will host the Kasadyahan sa Kabanwahanan, one of the highlights of Dinagyang Festival 2024, where nine municipalities will showcase their festivals in the different judging areas of the competition. (PIA-6 Iloilo)