By Gail Momblan/Philippine News Agency
ILOILO CITY — The municipality of Pototan in the third district of Iloilo has recently achieved the “zero open defecation (ZOD) status”, the Provincial Health Office (PHO) said on Monday.
Engr. Emma Conato, Sanitation Inspector of PHO, said Pototan town will officially be declared and granted with a certificate on Friday.
“We started in 2015 and started with standard verification. We verified every village in Pototan,” Conato said.
All 50 villages in Pototan town had undergone validation conducted by a team composed of representatives of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), Municipal Environment and Natural Resources Office (MENRO), and Municipal Planning and Development Office (MPDO).
Introducing the ZOD program to residents was “challenging”, Conato noted, attributing this to the changing “customary” of the locals.
“Because they are used to open-defecate but we are motivated to change their attitude. It’s a matter of teaching them to improve their way of life,” she said.
Securing that all households have access to safe toilets is coupled with information dissemination.
Residents were taught that open defecation could expose people to diarrhea, cholera, and other waterborne diseases, intestinal worm infections, and malnutrition and stunting of children.
Aside from the access to safe toilet, she said residents are also taught basic sanitation practices like proper hand washing.
Pototan is the 17th local government unit in the province to be declared as ZOD.
The 16 other LGUs include Banate, Barotac Viejo, Batad, Bingawan, Igbaras, Janiuay, Lemery, Miag-ao, Mina, New Lucena, Oton, Passi City, San Miguel, San Rafael, San Joaquin, and Tigbauan.
The PHO is working for Iloilo province to achieve the ZOD status by 2020.
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