A team from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources-Environment Management Bureau (DENR-EMB) Region 6 met with Bago City Mayor Mayette Javellana-Yao July 9, for the validation of the city’s 10-year Solid Waste Management (SWM) Plan.
The DENR-EMB6, represented by environment management specialist II, Engr. Victor Ureta, and environment monitoring officer Vince Raymundo, said that Bago has been compliant for having a 10-year SWM plan, as mandated under Republic Act 9003, or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000.
Bago’s new 10-year SWM plan, from 2025 to 2034, is now ready for review at the regional level, and then up for endorsement to the national level, the city said in a press release.
The submission to the National Solid Waste Management Commission (NSWMC) is on Aug. 7, 2025, it added.
RA 9003 provides for a systematic, comprehensive, and ecological waste management program to ensure the protection of public health and the environment, the DENR said, adding the law mandates the EMB to provide secretariat support to the NSWMC in the implementation of the SWM plans and policies.
Section 16 of RA 9003 requires that “provinces, cities, or municipalities, through their local solid waste management boards, shall prepare their respective 10-year SWM plans, consistent with the National Solid Waste Management Framework”, the DENR added.
During the meeting, Javellana-Yao also pushed for the stronger implementation of the ordinance regulating single-use plastics in the city, as well as other solid waste management best practices and strategies, including cleaner markets and other public places. ||
