By Mary Judaline Partlow/Philippine News Agency
DUMAGUETE CITY — As the May 13 midterm election draws near, environment groups in this city and in Negros Oriental, advocating for zero-waste communities, are calling on political candidates not to use their projects in wooing voters.
Merci Ferrer, the co-convenor of War on Waste (WOW) Negros Oriental and project manager of Zero Waste Cities Project-Dumaguete, on Monday disclosed that some political bets have apparently “claimed” the zero-waste project here as among their supposed achievements.
Ferrer issued a “reminder” saying that Zero Waste Cities Project-Dumaguete “is a joint, independent project between Barangays Bantayan, Looc, and Piapi, and non-government organization(s) War on Waste Negros Oriental and Mother Earth Foundation”.
“We ask local candidates running for local office not to use our project in their local electoral campaigns,” she said.
She, however, declined to name the candidates, saying she hopes to call their attention soon.
WOW-Negros Oriental and Mother Earth Foundation launched last year the Zero Waste Cities Project-Dumaguete through a memorandum of agreement signing with the village chiefs of Looc, Bantayan, and Piapi to pilot their communities in the zero-waste management project.
Part of the agreement was for these barangays to put up a Materials Recovery Facility (MRF), reinforced with a barangay resolution that includes fines and penalties.
Under the project, households are asked to segregate their garbage first before collectors from the barangay come on a regular schedule to pick up the recyclable and residual wastes to be brought to the MRFs.
The city government’s garbage trucks then schedule the pick-up and disposal of the residuals.
On Monday, eight journalists from Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines, participating in the four-day international media fellowship on the campaign to break free from plastics, visited the MRFs in Looc and Bantayan and interviewed the village chiefs, Zero Waste project enforcers, and collectors.
The activity, sponsored by the international environmental groups, Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA) and Break Free from Plastics Philippines in collaboration with WOW Negros Oriental and Mother Earth Foundation, also showcased the nearby province of Siquijor which has already started its massive campaign to ban single use plastics as stipulated in a provincial ordinance.
For the latest updates about this story, visit the Philippine News Agency website
