Garbage bins will be made available along the Sinulog route. | CDN Digital file photo
CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Cebu City Department of Public Services (DPS) will be placing at least 150 bins at strategic areas along the Sinulog solemn procession and grand parade routes on January 18 to 19, 2020.
Lawyer John Jigo Dacua, DPS head, told CDN Digital that two companies donated a total of 150 bins to the city government to be specifically used for the Sinulog.
Dacua said this would be a “great” help from the companies because this would make the garbage collection easier during the crowded events.
“The bins will be placed in eco-stations. We urge the public to find these eco-stations to dispose of their garbage properly,” said Dacua.
Read more: DPS wants bottled water companies to provide nets for recycling within Sinulog routes
On Wednesday, January 8, 2020, the City Council encouraged the Sinulog Foundation Incorporated (SFI) and the Sinulog Governing Board (SGB) to reduce plastic wastes by banning the use of single-use plastic and styrofoam in the major Sinulog events.
Councilor Alvin Dizon sponsored the resolution, which said that the Sinulog 2019 collected 7.2 tons of garbage, and most of these were used plastic.
Read more: DPS to tap barangays for garbage collection for Sinulog 2020
“We should be conscious of the waste that we generate during Sinulog festivities given the harmful impacts of these on our environment especially clogging up our drainage during raining season resulting to heavy flooding in our city,” said Dizon.
SFI has yet to respond to this request of the council.
Nonetheless, Dacua said the DPS had come prepared to collect the expected mounds of garbage produced by a full crowd during the Sinulog.
The DPS is prepping for the cleanups of the major activity areas starting on January 10, 2020, the launch of the Sinulog festivity, especially around the Basilica Minore del Santo Niño and the Cebu City Sports Center until January 20.
Dacua said the cleaning time of DPS would only be limited from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. daily to ensure a fast collection without hampering traffic around these two major venues.
Aside from on-standby trucks, tricycles will also be deployed in the smaller streets to continuously collect the garbage during the two events to avoid the accumulation of garbage in the eco-stations.
Finally, Dacua also encourage the establishments along the Sinulog routes to put up bins immediately outside their areas to provide alternatives to the eco-station.
“To the devotees, please be a model to our children, throw your garbage properly,” said Dacua./dbs