16th Cebu City-wide cleanup drive slated on June 22

The 15th Citywide Cleanup Challenge collected at least 87 tons of garbage on Saturday, March 16./Courtesy of Allan Defensor from PIO

CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Cebu City Environment and Natural Resources Office (CCENRO) is set to host another city-wide cleanup challenge which will take place on June 22, Saturday.

CCENRO head Reymarr Hijra said in a press conference last Tuesday that this will be the 16th Cebu City-wide cleanup activity.

In the previous city-wide cleanup, most of the participants were City Hall employees and volunteers from private firms. This time, Hijara said all households in the 80 barangays in Cebu City will participate.

“It’s a synchronized cleanup composed of involvement sa atonal 80 ka-barangay, gikan sa bukid ari sa atong mga kasapaan, mga public area sa atong barangay, sa downtown, diri sa atona mga ka-baybayonan,” Hijara said.

Stricter on garbage segregation  

Hijara said they will be stricter on garbage segregation this time, which will also affect participant attendance. Participants must present segregated garbage and the appropriate form for their attendance to be approved.

This initiative aims not only to clean up the garbage but also to make participants aware of the types of trash they dispose of in the landfill and understand what waste is being thrown into the environment.

“Kung dili nato ilahi-lahi ang basura, ang katong recyclable, ma contaminate man sa malata. Di nana mahalin or ubos iyang presyo. Ang atong gusto, nindot ang ekonomiya nga ma involve aning Solid Waste Management. Dili man ta maka promote sa maayong economy ana kung contaminated ang recyclables,” Hijara added.

READ: 87 tons of trash collected in city-wide cleanup

Furthermore, barangays will lead the 16th city-wide cleanup, organizing the activity themselves.

“Nah tay sistema gi-implement. Actually, nagpatang mi sa DILG (Department of Interior and Local Government) sa memo to participate in the cleanup including sa pag-collect sa data which is a requirement nga mahimo siya nga basehan nga ni participate gyud sila sa cleanup,” Hijara said.

Bernard Maraasin of the Coastal Management Board (CMB) said this change was made because previous participants often just took photos for social media.

“Lisod man kaayo nga pwerteng daghana ang niapil unya gamay ra kaayo ang ni participate,” Maraasin said.

Participants

Hijara expects more participants this time since all households in the barangays will be involved.

The 15th cleanup drive last March had about 3,000 participants.

“We expect more than 5,000 gyud sa participation. Hoping nga ang barangay lang pud, maka execute ani dili lang sa mga LGU kondili mga tagbalay mismo mangapil, og ma record na nato, mas Modaghan gyud ni siya atong gi-expect,” Hijara added.

The city’s Management Information and Computer Services (MICS) is tasked to monitor and record the attendance of the participants.

Jonalyn Gabito, representative of MICS, said that they will be providing the QR code for the participants for the registration and attendance.

This cleanup challenge is also part of the city’s preparation for the hosting of the Palarong Pambansa this coming July. /clorenciana