BACOLOD City – Barangays 18 and Handumanan won on Tuesday the top prizes in the local government’s Search for the Cleanest, Greenest, and Most Well-Managed Solid Waste Management Program of Urban and Rural Barangays.
Barangay 18 got the first prize – P300,000 worth of solid waste management projects – in the Urban Barangay category.
Handumanan, on the other hand, topped the Rural Barangay category and received P350,000 worth of solid waste management projects.
Other winners in the Urban Barangay category were the following:
* Barangay 15 – second prize, P200,000 (worth of solid waste management projects)
* Barangay 17 – third prize, P150,000
* Barangay 13 – fourth prize, P100,000
* Barangay 30 – fifth prize, P50,000
Meanwhile other winners in the Rural Barangay category were as follows:
* Montevista – second prize, P250,000 (worth of solid waste management projects)
* Taculing – third prize, P200,000
* Vista Alegre – fourth prize, P150,000
* Sum-ag – fifth prize, P100,000
Thirty villages in the Rural Barangay category received P15,000 worth of solid waste management projects each as consolation prizes.
Ten under the Rural Barangay category also got consolation prizes each of P20,000 worth of solid waste management projects.
Handumanan barangay captain Ricardo Danoy Jr. credited their win to the cooperation of his constituents. He pointed out that they work to keep their village clean even without the clean-and-green competition.
Meanwhile Barangay Captain Madeline Diaz of Barangay 18 said the contest did not force them to maintain the cleanliness of their village as they were doing the latter already. She considered their victory as a reward for their efforts.
Mayor Evelio Leonardia led the awarding ceremony at the Masskara Hall of the Bacolod City Government Center.
Helping him distribute the prizes were Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran, head of the Solid Waste Action Team, and Councilor Cindy Rojas, chairwoman of the Sangguniang Panlungsod committee on environment and ecology.
Rojas said they hoped to encourage barangays to segregate their wastes through the competition.
Around P2.5 million from the city government’s solid waste management fund has been allocated for the contest, Familiaran disclosed.
Leonardia vowed to continue the competition and push for its institutionalization./PN
