AT THE start of the new year recently, irked residents and business operators in Boracay took to social media to decry the uncollected garbage along the roads of the island resort. They asked, “Where are the government officials and agencies?”
Clearly, while there have been dramatic improvements in Boracay due to massive clean-up, there are still lots of things to do, foremost of which is solid waste management. But yes, we are not losing hope that Boracay can still be a model for ecological solid waste management (ESWM. What is needed is a stronger implementation of Republic Act (RA) 9003.
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources must exercise utmost vigilance especially in monitoring compliance to or violation of environmental laws such as the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act (RA 9003) and the Clean Water Act (RA 9275), even as the Environmental Management Bureau has already plugged the pipes from the establishments leading to the storm drain canals and has issued notices of violation.
Let us make Boracay a model green island that exercises the elements of a blue economy, respecting and protecting the water around it. Let us do the same in Puerto Galera, Pasig River, Laguna de Bay, Manila Bay, and in other areas that are tourist havens and heavily populated.
The key here is to ensure full compliance to RA 9003 by all local government units (LGUs) including all barangays in the country. According to the DENR, there are still 420 LGUs with open dumpsites, which are prohibited under the ESWM Law.
We urge the DENR to strengthen implementation of the ESWM Law and ensure that all barangays in the country are compliant. This is a herculean task, but if one barangay can do it, there is no reason for the 42,000 other barangays not to do it.
