ILOILO City’s drainage system is decrepit. Building a newer, bigger one is the right solution. But the inundation of some city streets every time it rains is made worse by reckless garbage dumping.
This remorseless and thoughtless waste disposal on the streets and waterways aggravate the flooding. Rainwater will not drain fast enough to the Iloilo River or the sea if the storm drains and creeks are clogged with trash. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to grasp the need to keep the waterways free of rubbish and debris to allow the water to freely flow and minimize flooding, but many have yet to realize what we recklessly throw on the ground or estero will come back to haunt and harm us.
Waste and sanitation workers often have to use excavating equipment to remove trash from our clogged waterways. Discarded plastic bags, packaging items, diapers, clothes, tsinelas and other waste materials hinder the draining of rainwater to the sea.
The solution to this is quite simple – break the filthy habit of throwing garbage on the streets and waterways, and to embrace the 5Rs (reduce, reuse, recycle, rethink and respect) instead. The public, especially the households, must segregate their discards at source to facilitate the reusing, recycling and composting of waste materials in line with Republic Act (RA) 9003, or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act.
Local authorities, on the other hand, must actively implement RA 9003 – even use the full force of the law to ensure compliance.
The honest-to-goodness enforcement of RA 9003 will reduce the volume and toxicity of garbage, cut hauling costs, control environmental pollution, conserve resources, prevent spillage of plastic litter to the oceans, avert flooding and even create sustainable jobs and livelihoods.
