Skip to main content

Legarda calls on LGUs again to implement solid waste law

Image
By
Senator Lorna Regina “Loren” B. Legarda again called on local government units in the country to implement Republic Act 9003—the Ecological Solid Waste Management Law—which was reenacted 13 years ago.

Ms. Legarda, principal author and sponsor of the said law, decried the fact that many LGUs have yet to comply with solid waste law, citing difficulties in implementation.

“It is always a challenge to implement a new law, but if we only take that first crucial step of actually trying to do it, maybe we could have already reached 100 percent full compliance rate 13 years after the law was enacted,” she said.

“The key here is to teach every citizen to properly manage their waste materials at home. That goes the same for every school, private and public offices, industrial and commercial establishments. That is why we need to tap our barangay leaders because they should be responsible for the segregation of biodegradable, compostable and reusable waste, while the municipal or city government will collect the non-recyclable materials and special waste,” Legarda explained.

Under RA 9003, all LGUs should have a solid waste management plan, which should be submitted to and approved by the National Solid Waste Management Commission.

The law states that there should be mandatory segregation of waste at source and a “no segregation, no collection” policy. All barangays should have a materials recovery facility (MRF), where waste materials are sorted for composting and recycling and the residual waste will be brought to sanitary landfills.

Furthermore, all open and controlled dumpsites should now be closed and instead, sanitary landfills should have been established.

Ms. Legarda noted that the latest available data on ESWM compliance, the 2012 statistics from the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA), showed that only 414 of the 1,610 LGUs nationwide have complied with the national plan. However, having a plan does not ensure that the law is fully and properly implemented.

The senator cited a government program, the “Solid Waste Management Law Voluntary Compliance Assessment and Promotion Program”, spearheaded by the Office of the Ombudsman, which aims to recognize LGUs that have complied with the ESWM Law and to urge voluntary compliance of other LGUs.

Ms. Legarda is hopeful the program will succeed in encouraging LGUs to finally implement their respective solid waste management program and to follow the law to ensure safe, clean and disaster-resilient communities.

“There are very few LGUs who have effectively and efficiently complied with the ESWM law. The fact that there are compliant LGUs only means that it is doable and there is no reason why other LGUs could not follow suit. I hope our leaders will have the political will to implement the law at full speed, especially now that we are facing threats of extreme weather events that can trigger environmental disasters such as the Payatas tragedy in Manila and the Irisan trash slide in Baguio,” Ms. Legarda pointed out.


In Ilocos Norte, only Laoag City has a sanitary landfill with San Nicolas and Batac City in the process of either beginning construction or finalizing plans of building their own. Solid waste management programs, however are already in place in most of the LGUs in the province. (MTE)
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Empanada festival: A celebration of good taste and good life

By
By Dominic B. dela Cruz & Leilanie G. Adriano Staff reporters BATAC CITY—If there is one thing Batac is truly proud of, it would be its famous empanada-making business that has nurtured its people over the years. Embracing a century-old culture and culinary tradition, Batac’s empanada claims to be the best and tastiest in the country with its distinctive Ilokano taste courtesy of its local ingredients: fresh grated papaya, mongo, chopped longganisa, and egg. The crispy orange wrapper and is made of rice flour that is deep-fried. The celebration of this city’s famous traditional fast food attracting locals and tourists elsewhere comes with the City Charter Day of Batac every 23 rd  of June. Every year, the City Government of Batac led by Mayor Jeffrey Jubal Nalupta commemorate the city’s charter day celebration to further promote its famous One-Town, One Product, the Batac empanada. Empanada City The Batac empanada festival has already become...
9 comments
Read more

Free dormitories eyed for Nueva Era students in LC, Batac

By
 Nueva Era mayor Aldrin Garvida By Dominic B. dela Cruz ( Staff Reporter) Nueva Era , Ilocos Norte—The municipal government here, headed by Nueva Era mayor Aldrin Garvida is planning to establish dormitories in the cities of Laoag and Batac that will exclusively cater to college students from the said cities. “Sapay la kuma ta maituloyen iti mabiit tay ar-arapaapen tayo ken iti munisipyo a maipatakderan kuma dagiti annak tayo a college students nga agbasbasa idiay siyudad iti Batac ken Laoag iti libre a dormitoryo a bukod da ngem inggana nga awan pay ket an-anusan mi paylaeng nga ibaklay kenni apo bise mayor iti pagbayad da iti kasera aggapu iti bukod mi a suweldo malaksid dagitay it-ited iti munisipyo ken iti barangay nga stipend da kada semester, ” Garvida said.    Garvida added that the proposed establishment of dormitories would be a big help to the students’ parents as this would shoulder the expenses of their children for rent and likewise they would feel...
Post a Comment
Read more

P29 per kilo rice sold to vulnerable groups in Ilocos region

By
BBM RICE. Residents buy rice for only PHP29 per kilo at the NIA compound in San Nicolas town, Ilocos Norte province on Sept. 13, 2024. The activity was under a nationwide pilot program of the government to sell quality and affordable rice initially to the vulnerable sectors. (Lei Adriano) San Nicolas , Ilocos Norte —Senior citizens, persons with disability, and solo parents availed of cheap rice sold at PHP29 per kilogram during the grand launching of the Bagong Bayaning Magsasaka (BBM) Rice held at the National Irrigation Administration compound in San Nicolas, Ilocos Norte province on Sept. 13, 2024. “ Maraming salamat Pangulong Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. sa inyong pagmamahal sa Region 1 lalong-lalo na sa bayan namin sa San Nicolas,” said Violeta Pasion, a resident Brgy.   18 Bingao in this town. The low-priced grains were sourced from the National Irrigation Administration’s (NIA) contract farming with irrigators' association members in the province. Along with Pasion, Epi...
Post a Comment
Read more