The city governments of San Carlos and Bago in Negros Occidental presented their respective 10-year Solid Waste Management Plan (SWMP) for 2025-2034 to the National Solid Waste Management Commission (NSWMC) via zoom conference Aug. 22.
The NSWMC validates the 10-year SWMPs of local government units (LGU) thru the initial screening by the DENR-Environmental Management Bureau regional and central offices, followed by deliberations and final approval by the NSWMC members.
This process ensures that plans align with the national framework and with Republic Act 9003, or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act, by including strategies for waste collection, diversion and disposal, and plans for facility operation, maintenance, and public information campaigns, the city said.
The presentation includes the strategies to achieve the 10-year plan target with budgetary allocation per year, projected annual cost, planned waste management system, proposed site for sanitary landfill, status of documents, barangays and central materials recovery facilities, equipment, best practices, ordinances, and projects and initiatives.
San Carlos City Mayor Renato Gustilo, Councilor Arthur Batomalaque, chairperson of the Sangguniang Panlungsod Committee on Environment, City Environment and Natural Resources officer I Engr. Loreto Sanchez, and CEMO Integrated Solid Waste Management/Pollution Control Division head Analou Gomo presented the city’s management plan.
Sanchez said part of the updated SWM plan is to improve waste diversion through the help of technology where residual wastes are converted into a product that he’s hoping to achieve within 10 years.
He also shared that San Carlos City and Bago City will present their best practices in potable water management during a water forum in Cebu, organized by the Kaabag sa Sugbo Foundation, on Aug. 26.
Provincial Solid Waste Management focal person-environment management specialist Shiela Joan Bautista said that both San Carlos and Bago effectively presented their best practices and got positive feedback from the NSWMC members.
She said that after the deliberation, if the NSWMC members approve the plan, the LGUs will issue a resolution adapting it for implementation over the next 10 years. The NSWMC and DENR-EMB will then conduct an annual spot monitoring to ensure its proper implementation.
NSWMC commissioner Dwight Ramos and senior environmental management specialist Juvinia Serafin, who is also the officer in-charge of the Solid Waste Management Division, commended both cities for their successful presentation.
The Bago presentation was led by Mayor Marina Javellana-Yao, City ENRO Vicente Mesias, and SWM focal person John Joseph Banaja.
Representatives of PEMO, EMB-DENR Negros Island Region, and the municipality of Hinigaran were also present during the presentation. ||
