Government-run Programs and Services [Archive]

sandrin

June 28th, 2005, 02:35 AM

WUA completes P458-M water projects

SOME 200,000 residents in the countryside will finally have a safe and reliable water service with the completion by the Local Water Utilities Administration of water-system improvement and expansion projects in 21 provincial areas in the first five months of the year.

Lorenzo H. Jamora, LWUA administrator, said the completed projects are worth P458.8 million. Additional 58 water-supply projects worth P1.34 billion are being constructed with the financial and technical assistance of the LWUA, he added.

Based on a report by Emmanuel Malicdem, LWUA deputy administrator for engineering, among the 21 completed projects are those in Silay City, Sagay and Himamaylan, all in Negros Occidental, inaugurated by President Arroyo in April. Other projects were completed in Claveria, Misamis Oriental; Catblogan, Samar; Pagsanjan, Laguna; and Iriga City, Camarines Sur.

The rest are in Sarrat, Ilocos Norte; Lal-lo, Cagayan; San Rafael, Bulacan; Porac, Pampanga; Tanuan and Pasacao, Batangas; San Jose, Mindoro Oriental; San Pedro, Laguna; Metro Naga and Pasacao, Camarines Sur; General MacArthur, Leyte; Sindangan, Zamboanga del Norte; and the Island Garden City of Samal and Digos City, Davao del Norte.

According to Malicdem, more water-improvement projects are being constructed in Northern and Central Luzon and the Southern Tagalog Region. These projects are funded by loans from the Asian Development Bank and Germany’s Kreditanstahlt fur Weiderrafbau.

Eleven projects in the Bicol Region are exclusively funded by ADB and 22 projects in the Visayas and Mindanao are funded by the ADB and KFW with local funding support from the Local Water Utilities Administration.

Biggest among the projects are those in Metro Iloilo, Ozamis City, Zamboanga City, Cavite, Rizal and Sorsogon City. Each costs at least P50 million.

The projects involve the development of additional water sources such as deep and shallow wells, small dams, construction of pumping stations or spring-intake boxes and water-storage tanks, laying of distribution pipelines and installation of water-treatment facilities.

The water-improvement program is the LWUA’s contribution to the Arroyo administration’s goal of providing safe water to all barangays by 2010.

sandrin

June 28th, 2005, 05:07 AM

renell

June 28th, 2005, 11:18 AM

Whats with the red bin and the yellow bin? Is one for recycling?

recycling= yellow
rubbish, just trash= red

but i know in belgium recycling was the blue bag yeah.

The water-improvement program is the LWUA’s contribution to the Arroyo administration’s goal of providing safe water to all barangays by 2010.

Very ambitious. Not that bad at all. Is this all Philippine barangays?

blueguy

June 28th, 2005, 07:22 PM

I agree Diliman has a good water treatment facility. Being situated near the MWSS/Nawasa treatment plant, and having an efficient sewerage systems and proper waste disposal contribute to the clean water output. My cousin who's used to drinking filtered bottled water likes the taste of the tap water at home. he kept on saying "sarap ng tubig nyo ah". Though now we practice water filtration just to be sure.....Do you know that UP Diliman even had it's own power distribution system up until the early 90's when the the power transmission broke and there was no budget to replace it. The distributon was then transfered to Meralco that jack up the prices by more than 200% in 8 years.

I really don't know if there is really a system in Diliman, because if there is... your water bill would be higher than any areas in the Metro... I really don't know if you get what I mean...But sewerage refers to all wastes generated from the use of water. All SM Malls have sewerage treatment plants...I actually worked for a British contractor at the Fort Bonifacio Global City...It is handled then by Bonifacio Vivendi Water Corporation a French-local JV...

blueguy

June 28th, 2005, 07:36 PM

Van1975, that's a very very modern system. Is that the system being used only at Fort Bonifacio or all of Metro Manila? Here at Quezon City they have signs all over UP Diliman that "We are being served by the most modern water treatment facility blah blah blah," I hope that's the facility you are talking about. My dad and I actually want to go see the process, but we're not sure if they would let us in "for a look."

I think Bayani is focusing on sewage, traffic, and then street cleanliness right now. I think a modern recycling collection system needs to be enforced here. Like the blue bag program we have in Chicago, blue bags are used for recyclables. Did you guys know that some cities in Japan separate their garbage into as much as 44 categories. Crazy, but how diligent and dedicted of them huh?

If any of you here live in a subdivision within the Philippines, maybe you can suggest to your neighborhood committees a collection program for recyclables. I mean its not that hard to wash recyclables and then set them aside. Then after setting them aside someone from your subdivision can employ someone from a less fortunate neighborhood (like a squatter) to collect the recyclables and then they can cash out on it. I know that trash collection here requires garbagemen to separate waste and recyclables, but won't separating them at home make their lives easier?

FYI Iloilo City right now is implementing in all its 200 barangays the "No segregation, no collection" Policy. This is in connection with RA 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000. It actually prohibits LGU's to use an open pit dumpsite by 2006. By that time, it is expected that all LGU's must convert their open pit dumpsite into a Sanitary Landfill.

In every barangays here in Iloilo City, there are these MRF's (Materials Recovery Facilties) which are run by respective barangays. Waste segregation is already done in this site which seperates plastics, papers, organic wastes/market wastes and others. Those that cannot be sold (income goes directly to barangay funds) to local junk shops are being brought to the dumpsite...then all market wastes, i.e. fruit and vegetable peelings, etc. are shredded and mixed with soil making it an organic fertilizer which is very good in growing organic vegetables. Our mayor is actually very supportive in this program, that once, our city is the dirtiest but right now we are the cleanest in the region and have been a finalist in the national competition. So I guess, people should be aware of these endeavours...

blueguy

June 28th, 2005, 07:36 PM

sandrin

July 8th, 2005, 04:03 AM

23 local firms use environment-friendly waste water system
by MELODY M. AGUIBA

Germany-based Bayer, which pioneered in waste water treatment back in the early 1900s, has taken a hand in imparting to 23 Filipino companies an advanced sewage treatment technique (STT), cutting waste water disposal that would otherwise degrade the environment.

"We have perfected it in 1999, and then we allowed a contractor to use it for other sewage treatment projects. Now we’ve shared this to 23 companies free of charge," said Ma. Theresa Cayton, Bayer Crops Science (BCS) plant manager, said in a plant tour.

These firms that have used BCS’s STT are Yazaki-Torres Manufacturing Inc., Rohm Apollo Semiconductor Philippines Inc., EDS Manufacturing Inc., Centro Sagara Metro Plastics Industrial Corp., Executive Plaza Hotel, United Architects of the Philippines, Emilio Aguinaldo College Sports and Cultural Center, Centralized STT for Edsa Central and United Laboratories.

Condominiums, hospitals, and shopping malls which have begun using the STT are Alexandra Condominium, Baywatch Hills Condominium, Virra Mall, Our Lady of Peace Charity Hospital, Madison Manor Condominium, Agoo Provincial Hospital, Centro Escolar University, Hospital of the Infant Jesus, and Shoe Mart Cubao.

The STT which uses the activated sludge or ABC process is known for its efficiency since it locates the function of aeration and flocculation in just one chamber. A cramped 25 to 40 square meter area can thus clean a 200 cubic meter waste water in just four hours, requiring less than one-fourth of a traditional waste water plant while cutting cleaning hours by at least 50 percent.
Cayton explains BCS’s waste water treatment system’s key to efficiency is its powerful aeration system.
"It is the air that causes decomposition of organic matter. The more air there is, the faster the decomposition of waste," she said.
BCS has adopted its waste water system in aim to throw off clean water to the San Cristobal River, a nearby river in its plant in Canlubang, Laguna, where BCS used to dispose of its waste water. The company eventually decided to reuse all its treated domestic water for watering the lawn and other purposes, bringing substantial savings from water consumption.

pau_p1

July 8th, 2005, 05:37 AM

nice article... I hope more companies follow the above 23 companies... if Manila can produce less waste water.. it would be much better... and would definitely aide in the restoration of our waterways.... ;D

sandrin

July 12th, 2005, 02:01 AM

Manila Water launches RP’s first sustainability report
The Philippine Star 07/12/2005

A local company that provides drinking water to over five million customers in Metro Manila recently launched the Philippines’ first ever sustainability report at the Asian Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Expo held at the Westin Philippine Plaza.

Manila Water Co., a water and wastewater services concessionaire under the Ayala Group, launched the report, which uses the internationally-recognized Global Reporting Initiatives (GRI) guidelines to measure its impacts on the environment from which it derives its resources and the communities that it comes into contact with.

"Manila Water’s battlecry should aptly be called ‘water for life’ as its corporate social responsibility initiatives are so intertwined and its core business of reducing systems losses, or non-revenue water, and expanding its services to as many customers as possible, especially to the urban poor," observed Education Undersecretary Juan Miguel Luz, of keynote speaker at the launch.

Sonny Carpio, president of the League of Corporate Foundations (LCF), organizer of the Asian CSR Expo, cited Manila Water’s managers and engineers for ‘weighing environmental and social issues as part of their decision-making.’

"The report shows that sustainable development issues lie at the heart of what Manila Water does. It clearly doesn’t make business sense for a company in their line of work to separate environmental and social concerns from its mainstream strategic considerations," Carpio said.

Manila Water’s sustainability report is the first of its kind in the Philippines. It benchmarks the company’s performance against international best practices in environmental and social performance, as well as corporate governance.

Among the report’s concerns are those that provide challenges to the company to make a difference in the lives of the people it serves. These include programs to protect the watersheds from which surface water is derived, programs that harness additional water sources to meet the demands of an increasing population, and programs that ensure safety along the water distribution system’s right-of-way.

"The report articulates what we have always instinctively known at Manila Water – that our long term viability as a business is very much dependent on our ability to manage the environment from which we derive our resources, and on our relationships with the communities," said Manila Water president Antonino T. Aquino.

Manila Water’s sustainability report was put together by a team of senior managers who meet regularly to discuss community, labor, financial and environmental challenges that face the company.

"Future issues of the report will focus more on the field of corporate governance," said Jeric Sevilla, Manila Water’s sustainable development manager. "While the company has always upheld transparency and accountability as corporate values, we acknowledge that these still need to be articulated by way of policies and manuals."

Manila Water’s initial public offering (IPO) in the first quarter of 2005 makes the following year an opportune time to focus on the systems and procedures that govern the company and contribute to its transparency as a business entity.

"We hope this report will become a key tool to engage our stakeholders," said Aquino. "Manila Water has much to learn from its customers, employees, and neighbors. A sustainability report which tackles a diverse set of views helps us frame more effective business decisions."

Manila Water supplies drinking water and wastewater services to over five million people in Metro Manila’s east zone: Makati, Marikina, Pasig, Taguig, Pateros, San Juan, Mandaluyong, Quezon City, San Andres and Sta, Ana in Manila, Cainta, Taytay, Montalban, and the Rizal towns of Antipolo, Angono, Binangonan, Baras, and Jala-Jala.

KulasKusgan

July 19th, 2005, 03:48 PM

GenSan revives interest in costly water treatment project
By Bong S. Sarmiento/MindaNews / 17 July 2005

GENERAL SANTOS CITY -- The city government has renewed its interest to implement a multi-million-peso sewage treatment project (STP) it abandoned about two years ago, it was learned Sunday.

Dr. Romeo Basada, project director of the Southern Mindanao Integrated Coastal Zone Management Project (SMICZMP), said they offered to build a P523-million STP to contain pollution at the 214,000-hectare Sarangani Bay, a rich marine ground depended on by people here and Sarangani province.

SMICZMP, which is supervised by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), is a project funded by the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC).

Although Mayor Pedro Acharon supported the project, the city council in 2003 voted against the purchase of a six-hectare lot in Barangay Baluan, which is the local government’s counterpart to the STP.

Local legislators also called off the STP due to the estimated P8 million annual cost of operating and maintaining the sewage treatment facility, the locality’s other counterpart aside from the land.

But two weeks ago, Basada said the city council passed Resolution No. 253 Series of 2005 signifying the city’s intention to “participate in the implementation of the Septage Treatment Facilities (STF) of the SMICZMP.”

This came as preparation for the construction of seven STFs in the six municipalities of Sarangani and one in Davao del Sur, which have become the new beneficiaries of the DENR grant, are now underway after funds were diverted from STP to STF as a result of the city’s cancellation of the sewage treatment project, according to him.

Basada said the DENR and JBIC are willing to study a new project proposal that would be submitted by the city government following its renewed interest in the STP.

“We are always willing to work with General Santos City in instituting integrated ecosystems management for Sarangani Bay Protected Seascape because the city is a major source of pollutants discharged to the Bay,” Basada said.

SMICZMP sanitation expert David You warned that establishing a sanitation measure for the city at a much later time will only entail a much higher cost for the city.

“It is unreasonable to assume that General Santos City will never, in its lifetime, implement a sewerage or similar project because all developing cities eventually do,” You said.

Basada said a sewage treatment facility in the city is expected to dramatically reduce the extent of pollution discharged to Sarangani Bay and lessen the incidence of water-borne diseases particularly diarrhea.

He said local government units have been facing pressures to develop ways to safeguard their water resources with the passage of Republic Act 9275 or the Philippine Clean Water Act of 2004.

marites

August 6th, 2005, 01:13 AM

hooray for Bayani. hope he continues with his clean drive . At least he's done more than past MMDA heads. I agree people need to help the habit of Filipinos throwing litter here and there has to change. We were endowed with one of the best naturally beautiful place environment and we need to protect it more. It is an asset which everyFilipino should help protect and be proud of.

Mango

August 28th, 2005, 04:31 AM

‘No garbage segregation, no collection’ in Parañaque
By Michael Punongbayan
The Philippine Star 08/28/2005

The city government of Parañaque is implementing a "no segregation, no collection" policy in an effort to promote responsible garbage management and disposal.

Following an intensive and citywide education and information campaign at the barangay level, Mayor Florencio Bernabe said it was time to implement a better solid waste management scheme.

He said the program seeks to follow the provisions of Republic Act 9003, or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2001, which requires households as well as commercial and business establishments to segregate biodegradable and non-biodegradable wastes and place them in separate garbage bags, which would be collected on a weekly basis.

Biodegradable waste materials include kitchen waste like fruit peelings, vegetable discards, leftover or spoiled food as well as garden or yard litter like leaves, weeds and twigs.

Non-biodegradable garbage, on the other hand, includes metal, glass, plastic, rubber, bonded composites like foils or tetra packs, paper and cardboard, leather and cloth.

Bernabe said Parañaque currently generates more than 300 metric tons of garbage daily, of which 35 percent is biodegradable and can be composted. Close to 30 percent are considered non-biodegradable and can be recovered and recycled as "factory returnable items."

The city’s Solid Waste Management Board, which is spearheading the "no segregation, no collection" policy in close coordination with barangay officials, said about 85 percent of the garbage comes from households.

This, the mayor noted, is the very reason why segregation at the household level has become a top priority in order for the program to succeed.

"I urge and encourage all homeowners and their domestic helpers to do their share by segregating their garbage," Bernabe said. "They can compost their kitchen or garden wastes or if they don’t have space to do this, they can deposit them in biodegradable bins which their barangay officials will provide. One such bin will be provided for every cluster of 50 homes in every village or subdivision."

In Caloocan City, the local government urged residents to sort their garbage and practice recycling to lessen the waste they produce amid the work stoppage staged by employees of a garbage contractor.

Mayor Enrico "Recom" Echiverri assured the public that the city won’t be affected by the strike of Ren Transport garbage collectors, who decided to stop doing their rounds in different cities to protest the company’s unfair labor practices.

The mayor said other trucks and drivers of Ren assigned to the city that are not included in the barricade are continuing their regular garbage collection.

He said the collection was on schedule and there has been no reported backlog.

He added the local government has a contingency plan in case the collectors stop doing their rounds. He said city garbage trucks are on standby and will take over the areas assigned to the contractor.

These include Maypajo, West Grace Park and C-3 up to Rizal Avenue.

Echiverri earlier warned garbage contractors that he would terminate their services if he receives reports that they have not been following their schedule.

The mayor earlier implemented the Waste Management Program where 16 barangays were chosen to be the pilot test areas for waste segregation.

Lili

August 28th, 2005, 06:02 AM

^^ That is a very good initiative. We have a strict implementation of this in New York with fines involved if you don't segregate your trash. Garbage is divided into three: biodegradable wastes; recyclable paper and paper products; and recyclable bottles, metals, foils and plastics. We keep three trash bins for these with different-color plastic bags (black for biodegradable; white or tied together for paper; and blue for plastic bottles and foils). Collections are made separately for recyclables and non-recyclables. During Christmas season, the old Christmas pine trees are collected for chipping and made into wood chips, paper products and composts. For a short period of time, Mayor Bloomberg stopped the segregation of trash because he said it was costing the city more money. It was a bad move and the New Yorkers have gotten into the habit of segregating trash. Mayor Bloomberg sooner found out that trash segregation is important and cost-effective, hence, he reinstated it.

amras

August 28th, 2005, 06:17 AM

I also wish that there are more avaiable trash cans on the streets. For me, one reason why people litter anywhere is becoz they don't see a proper place to put these things (e.g. candy wrappers, cig butts, plactic bags, etc... ), so they end up scattering around or clogging up the drainage.

marites4

August 28th, 2005, 08:40 AM

I've seen Filipinos throw trash out on the street even if there's a trash can inside. They have the mentality that if there's street sweepers why bother, that's what they're there for. Keep the inside of your car and house immaculately clean as long as the trash is outside my house and car it's okey. It also sucks how they eat and don't buss their tables leaving everything looking like a pigsty. The poor lone busboy has clean up after thousands of people eating at the same time. The attitude really has to change first. Get them used to the habit then they'll change.

tigidig14

August 28th, 2005, 08:43 AM

they should start playing again that old ass commercial: "ang tinapon mong basura babalik sayo"

marites4

August 28th, 2005, 09:45 AM

They also need to decongest MetroManila. and I don't mean decongest by sending them to other smaller cities to make that city look just like another Manila. I mean less people by population control. Manila used to be just like the provinces,paradise until people ruined it. Natural resource can only support so much. It's hard to keep it clean too if there are so many people. But I think it can still be done . They should have regular clean updrives like the schools all the time not just to get in guiness world book. If you keep it clean people will feel more ashamed to dirty it up. But if it's already a pigsty people will just continue making it remain a pigsty.

Æsahættr

August 28th, 2005, 09:49 AM

omg It makes me sooo pissed off that ppl just liter in the streets. Me and my uncle were waiting in the car and he just threw out a plastic bottle out in the road and im like why did u do that and hes like well everyone does and it just makes me mad when I see people doing that. I just want to scream at their faces!

Mango

August 31st, 2005, 04:33 AM

Aside from waste segregation, waste reduction is a must esp. plastic bags which clogged drainage and cause floods.
Haven't you notice how we overuse plastic bags in malls, supermarkets, wet markets, etc.?
When I buy small things like ballpens, diskettes at a local bookstore in MM, I tell the the cashier that I don't need them wrapped and hoping they would just put a scotch tape with the company logo in it, but to my dismay, the cashier still proceed to get a small plastic bag and "attach" it to the goods. Haaay...

Taken from Manilatimes
BIG DEAL
By Dan Mariano
‘Bayong’ instead of plastic bags

As any metro aide will tell you, plastic bags are the main cause of flooding in the capital region and other urban areas. They choke drains, and thus prevent rainwater from naturally running off to canals, creeks and rivers. In many other countries, plastic bags have wrought havoc—sometimes of a magnitude more deadly than what we Metro Manilans have experienced thus far.

Last month, for instance, the western Indian state of Maharashtra suffered widespread flooding, which caused the death of over 1,000 people, mostly in Mumbai (Bombay). The culprit: tons and tons of plastic bags that clogged flood drains.

The man-made tragedy spurred Maharashtra authorities to take drastic action.

“Gutters choked with plastic bags caused the flooding which lead to enormous losses for the state,” the state’s chief minister was quoted by Reuters as saying in a statement. “The media and environmental and citizens’ groups demanded that plastic bags be banned, so we are banning them.”

Maharashtra adopted the ban last week, imposing a fine of 5,000 rupees (about $114) on companies, shops and other businesses caught using plastic bags. Individuals are fined 1,000 rupees for every violation.

The ban has enraged plastic bag manufacturers that annually produce 7,000 tons of plastic bags; they stand to lose $20 million annually. But Maharashtra authorities appear to have been persuaded by environmentalists and other groups not to use nonbiodegradable bags. Plastic bags do not only choke drains; they can take as much as a millennium to disintegrate and take down with them aquatic life, birds and other animals.

Bangladesh, which has suffered severe flooding too, and other Indian states, those that depend on tourism, have also imposed bans to prevent “littered bags from becoming eyesores.”

In more developed countries, notably Ireland, governments have imposed a special tax on plastic bags that has significantly cut down their use. Irish shops, for instance, do not supply customers with plastic bags unless they are willing to pay for them.

Irish authorities imposed the levy in March 2002 and after just 17 months noted “a stunning drop in the use of plastic bags, once a ubiquitous scourge along [Ireland’s] bucolic lanes, quite rivers and twisty highways.”

Irish shoppers used some 1.2 billion plastic bags annually before the levy was adopted. “Since then, [plastic bag] use dropped by around 95 percent,” said the Irish environment department. Plastic bags previously made up five percent of Ireland’s garbage; the figure has dropped to just 0.3 percent due to the levy.

Australia, the United Kingdom, South Africa and other countries were last reported to be carefully studying the Irish example.

Unfortunately, the Philippine is not one of them. That could yet change, however.

Plastic bags are made from petrochemicals that, in turn, are extracted from petroleum. With oil prices climbing to unprecedented levels, the time has never been better to look for practical alternatives.

The traditional bayong, for instance, is due for a comeback. Made from coconut leaves and other natural components, the bayong is as environment-friendly as you could get. Aside from the use of indigenous, renewable and biodegradable materials in handcrafting this native basket, bayong production can help boost the livelihood of the rural folk who make them.

marites4

September 1st, 2005, 08:16 AM

I can see how interested Pinoys are with solving garbage issues based on the response. Given I think this is very important issue considering the burgeoning population of the Philippines, even Boracay is not immuned to this problem. AS always it will probably be crisis proportion before anything serious is done like the population explosion ticking bomb.

Mango

September 4th, 2005, 12:51 PM

QC taps junk shops for garbage program

The Philippine Star 09/04/2005

The Quezon City government has tapped 335 junk shops in 73 barangays as material recovery facilities (MRFs) to accommodate recyclables collected by barangays that do not have facilities for garbage segregation.

Frederika Rentoy, chief of the city’s Environment Protection and Waste Management Department, said a memorandum of agreement was inked between junk shop owners and barangays to tap shops for the waste segregation, reduction and recycling program.

Earlier, Mayor Feliciano Belmonte Jr. directed Rentoy to conduct a study on junk shops as part of the effort of the city government to regulate the operation of junk shops in the city.

"The city government is not against the operation of junk shops, but favors their regulation," Belmonte said.

Rentoy said the total waste materials gathered by junk shops is more than 300,000 kilograms per day, or about 20 per cent of the city’s total generated waste.

Several barangays have already set up their own MRF facility, where collected garbage is segregated and turned into fertilizer. – Perseus Echeminada

Mango

September 18th, 2005, 07:21 AM

Turning trash to cash
CONSUMERLINE By Ching M. Alano
The Philippine STAR 09/13/2005

You’ve probably mastered the three Rs – reading, ’rithing, and ’rithmetic. But how much do you know of the fourth R – that is, recycling? Okay, let’s begin our lesson and talk garbage – literally. Learn from the experts in recycling. To begin with, here’s a list of people who have turned trash into cash, as provided by our eco source Gene Romero:

• Filipino inventor Gonzalo "Jun" Catan, also VP of Zero Waste Movement, makes tons of garbage into green charcoal. His contact number: 0918-4191515.

• Rolando Sianghio, who makes municipal wastes into organic fertilizer.

• Inventor Ramon Uy, who makes your garbage 50 percent compostable through his shredder.

• Tony de Castro of the Palawan Organic Farming, who’s wormed his way into vermi culture and composting.

Romero also suggests checking out the following NGOs:

• ERDA Foundation, which helps Smokey Mountain kids and adults alike recycle Smokey Mountain recyclables. Out of this mountain of refuse have come beautiful handmade paper, handpainted tees, cards, among other great buys. Wanna hear more beautiful stories from ERDA? Call 254-6759 or 254-7375 (look for Edward Arevalo or Ma. Socorro Alday).

• Tahanang Walang Hagdanan in Cainta. A team of Tahanan technicians – all physically disadvantaged but willing and able to make a difference – developed the prototype of a solar-powered carrier for disabled persons.

• Geo-farm in Bayambang, Pangasinan, which boasts bamboo farms and recycles water seven times. Its popularity has spread by word of mouth – contented mouths, that is – because of its organic lemon grass concentrate, which makes non-carbonated lemon tea and organic produce.

• Perpetual Help University Systems. Its got a proactive waste management subject/course. Recently, it trained about 1,500 nursing students, theoretical and on site. Interested parties can call Richard Tamayo, president, or Mary Jane Inocencio, director for special projects, at 874-8515 local 194.

• St. Joseph College and Miriam College. They have down-to-earth courses/projects that inspire the environmentalist in each of us. Call Angelina Galang of Miriam’s Environmental Science Institute at telefax 920-5093, 436-4736, 580-5400 local 3560.

And for all ye "junkies" out there, Planet Patrol has compiled a list of recycling centers and junk shops, many of which specialize in recycling only select materials – either bottles, paper, newspapers, wood, batteries (now, you know where to bring all those old, worn-out batteries you’ve accumulated over the years), styrofoam or metal. Or you can donate batteries to the ABS CBN Foundation’s Bantay Baterya. You will be asked to sign a donation registry at Bantay Baterya accredited gas stations. For more info, e-mail kalikasan@abs.pinoycentral.com.

Here are but a few junk-friendly shops:

• Paperland Ind. Corp., Leiland Drive, Balintawak, Quezon City; call Johanne Tan at 361-8531 – all kinds of paper

• Embuscado Trading, Mendez St., Baesa, Quezon City; call Windy Embuscado at 361-7113/362-4142 – paper recycler

• Winrock Ind. Services, Oliveros Drive, Balintawak, Quezon City; call Mimie Yee 362-4504 – plastic recycler

• Good Samaritan Foundation for the Disadvantaged, RM Commercial Arcade, Ramon Magsaysay Blvd., Quezon City; call 716-1499/716-1399 – aluminum cans

• CP Junk Shop, Tandang Sora, Quezon City – scrap metal

• AR Merchandise, Tandang Sora, Quezon City – scrap iron

• Arcadio delos Reyes, Roosevelt Ave., Quezon City; call 371-5127 – newspapers per kilo

• Rolando Barrientos, Scout Santiago, Quezon City; call 373-2333 – white paper, metal, bottles, paper (minimum amount: 500 kilos)

• UP Shell Center, Bantay Baterya Project, Commonwealth, Diliman; call 928-1968 – batteries (car/appliance)

• Coca Cola Bottlers Phils. Inc., Herrera St., Legaspi Village, Makati City; call 840-6907/840-6909 – aluminum cans

• United Pulp and Paper, Salcedo St., Legaspi Village, Makati; call Jimmy Macatangay at 810-9526 – corrugated carton recycler

• Bensan Ind., Caloocan City; call 361-9889; call Yvette Santos at 362-2770 – all kinds of oil except cooking oil

• Romfer’s Junkshop, Daang Bakal St., Tondo, Manila; call call Felix Fernandez at 251-2431 – bulbs, fluorescent, ballasts

• Polysterene Packaging Council of the Phils., UN Avenue, Ermita, Manila; call Tony Chiong at 526-0889 – styrofoam recycler

• Kapalaran Metal Scrap & Junk Shop, P. Santos, Pasay City; call 833-7123 – copper, aluminum sheets

• Earth Management System, Calbayog St. corner Dr. Fernandez, Mandaluyong City; call Ruben Posadas at 535-0564 – segregated and cleaned wastes

• HMR Super Surplus Bodega, Reliance and Sheridan Sts., near Pioneer, Mandaluyong; call 634-0526 – they buy your surplus, electronics, base metals, computer/appliance recycling, telephone systems, racking and shelving, precision testing, spare parts

Pick the area nearest you. Otherwise, you may try the list of the Environmental Management Bureau at www.emb.gov.ph/list_of_transporters.PDF.

As they say, one man’s garbage is another man’s fortune.

dancethingy

September 18th, 2005, 09:56 AM

Bayongs are a great idea. I use rattan bags (the big ones) whenever grocery shopping. People should do it. It's less hassle trying to do away with the plastic bags.

When i pick up my brother's dog's crap, i use a wallice ting ting and then bury it on our accumulating compost in the backyard.

Did you know that the average Japanese household seperates their garbage into 22 different categories. Some districts have their residents separate them into 44!

Mango

September 18th, 2005, 10:23 AM

Some folks in the province still use baskets made of rattan and fishnets when going to the market. That way less hassle and no need for plastic bags.

There was this campaign some years back at FARMERS market in Cubao on bringing back bayong. I dont know what happen to that.

22 or 44 categories?
A simple bottle of coke will find its way into three categories:
1.pet bottle
2.plastic A for the cap
3.plastic B for the label

while a can of sardines into two:(wash the tin can first)
1. tin 2. paper for the label

I developed the habit of washing out food remnants in can, plastics and softdrinks can to avoid the rotting and foul smell and no cockroaches!

styro are washed then dropped off at the supermarket where you buy the item. These are made into ballpens.

these are just examples to show how strict japan is when it comes to garbage treatment.

tigidig14

September 18th, 2005, 10:18 PM

[QUOTE=dancethingy]Bayongs are a great idea. I use rattan bags (the big ones) whenever grocery shopping. People should do it. It's less hassle trying to do away with the plastic bags.[QUOTE]

bayong, masakit sa kamay, they shud have those portable pushing cart like what they have in here. im wondering if we have them there, probably i can patent it n make beacoup money overthere :lol:

plastic bag is no hassle whatsoever after u used it then u throw it, as easy as that. ppol now are making it hard for themsleves :no:

Lili

September 19th, 2005, 01:31 AM

^^ You can't patent something that is already invented and patented, tigidig. I guess the reason why they don't have many of those portable pushcarts in Pinas is because they drive around a lot there, unlike here where we have more of a "walking culture". You can still market those 'though either as a wholesaler or retailer.

I wish that our washing machine drainage is hooked up to a garden hose so that the drained water will automatically water my plants in the garden. Then, I will not be wasting a lot of water and save time washing my clothes and watering the plants. That is an idea. I think it is a patentable idea. They say detergent water is actually good fertilizer for some plants.

tigidig14

September 19th, 2005, 02:40 AM

they need that especially in divisoria but can u still patented it in pnas because they dont have them over there?

never heard of using ur drained water for ur plants, must wanna kill ur grass :lol:
all i know is u used detergent to break up the permeable walls of a nucles to get the dna---huh :lol:

Lili

September 19th, 2005, 03:04 AM

^^ LOLz!

Mango

September 20th, 2005, 03:56 AM

Bawas balot, bawas basura para sa malinis na estero!
HINDI PA TAPOS ANG LABAN Ni Sec. Mike Defensor
Ang Pilipino STAR Ngayon 09/20/2005

(Unang bahagi)
ARAW-ARAW ay may nalilikhang 6,000 toneladang basura sa Metro Manila kung saan karamihan ay galing sa mga kabahayan. Taun-taon naman ay nililinis ang 330 kilometro ng mga ilog at estero na natatanggalan ng humigit-kumulang sa anim na toneladang basura. Ito ang maruming katotohanang bumubulaga sa atin araw-araw.

Ang basura ay isang problemang nararapat pagtulungang solusyunan ng pamahalaan at ng mga mamamayan. Kung kaya naman ngayong Setyembre, lalo pa’t Philippine Clean-Up Month ay pinaiigting ng Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), sa pangunguna ng Environmental Management Bureau (EMB), at ng mga regional offices nito, ang kampanyang "Bawas Balot, Bawas Basura Para sa Malinis na Estero". Sa kampanyang ito, ka-partner natin ang mga tagapamahala at mga vendors’ association ng mga palengke, sa paghihikayat sa mga mamimili na gumamit ng bayong upang mabawasan ang paggamit ng labis-labis na pambalot sa mga pinamimili. Ang mga "plastik" na pambalot kasi ay bahagi sa tone-toneladang basurang bumabara sa ating mga ilog at estero.

Kaugnay nito, isang seremonya para sa paglalagda ng Memorandum sa Kasunduan ng "Bawas Balot, Bawas Basura" ang ginanap sa San Juan nitong Setyembre 14. Nilahukan ito ng DENR, sa pamamagitan ng EMB at ng tanggapan nito sa National Capital Region (NCR), mga tagapamahala ng Agora Market at kinatawan ng kanilang Vendors’ Association at mga kinatawan ng iba pang piling mga palengke sa lungsod ng Maynila, Makati at Quezon. Ang mga pamilihang nakilahok sa seremonya, bukod sa Agora Market, ay ang Paco Market, Padre Rada at Asuncion Talipapa, Quinta Market, Pritil Market, Dagonoy Market, Bambang Market, Sta. Ana Market, Arranque Market, Wagas Market, Obrero at Antipolo Market, Dapitan Market, Gagalangin Public Market, L and Y Pamilihan, Inc., Guadalupe Commercial Complex, Poblacion Market, Pio del Pilar Market, Kamuning Market at Murphy Market.

marites4

September 20th, 2005, 04:58 AM

tigidig14

September 20th, 2005, 04:59 AM

^^ yeah, atlast they should start doing that, the open estero in quiapo, i think bandang lepanto malapit sa mga muslim. the estero was really awkward to look at. its ilog puno ng basura. have they atlest clean that side!!! if someone push in that estero u definitely be dead, no pun intended.

marites4

September 20th, 2005, 05:02 AM

I wish Mayor Atienza would make the muslims in that area more accountable for their trash. I swear they try to make it into an open sewer.

Mango

September 20th, 2005, 05:09 AM

They should outlaw the plastic bags period. Maybe use paperbags and bayongs. Since Filipinos cannot be disciplined on proper care of plastics, they end up on esteros and street this should be strictly enforced. Also the use of styrofoams in fast foods should be banned .

I wish you run for congress of manila :D

Plastic and styro should be banned or find a way to minimize the usage.
Actually Carls Jr. (are they still around?)used paper cups and it's a bit expensive but thats ok.
At least they are doing their social responsibility and not just pure profit.

tigidig14

September 20th, 2005, 05:17 AM

I wish Mayor Atienza would make the muslims in that area more accountable for their trash. I swear they try to make it into an open sewer.

thats a sewer, u didnt c poops floating out there.

marites4

September 20th, 2005, 05:22 AM

thats a sewer, u didnt c poops floating out there.
all kinds of things floating there. decomposing food, spit,plastic,dead animals etc.. makes it a sewer.

marites4

September 20th, 2005, 05:24 AM

I wish you run for congress of manila :D

Plastic and styro should be banned or find a way to minimize the usage.
Actually Carls Jr. (are they still around?)used paper cups and it's a bit expensive but thats ok.
At least they are doing their social responsibility and not just pure profit.
I really wish I could. But I'm not an artista or basketball player. You need lots of money to win and with the guns n goons politics we have ,I'm afraid I don't have enough balls to do it. Maybe in the future. For now all I can do to help is practice what I preach and spread awareness in my own little way which is what we should all do.

Mango

September 20th, 2005, 05:30 AM

That's commendable. No matter how good the program is, if it lacks support among people, it will go into waste (pun intended). Discipline talaga.

Mango

September 22nd, 2005, 09:38 PM

Isabela town bans use, sale of plastic bags

First posted 00:29am (Mla time) Sept 23, 2005
By Villamor Visaya Jr.
Inquirer News Service

Editor's Note: Published on Page A18 of the September 23, 2005 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer

SAN MARIANO, ISABELA—LOOKING for plastic bags? You’ll have to go out of town.

Mayor Edgar Go and the town council here recently approved an ordinance banning the sale and use of plastic bags by all business establishments here.

Local officials said the ban was prompted by deliberations over the health and environmental hazards posed by the use of plastic bags.

Councilor Rodolfo Costales, chair of the council’s committee on health and environment, authored the ordinance.

“The use of plastic bags in business establishments contributes heavily to problems on health, sanitation and the environment,” Go said.

He said plastic bags, because they are non-biodegradable, clog drainage and sewerage systems, litter the streets and pollute the environment.

Going native

Go said in place of plastic bags, the town is encouraging residents to use native packaging materials.

Residents, local officials said, may try using the indigenous ubon system in packaging or carrying goods.

The ubon refers to tying fish and meat using banban (bamboo shingles) or rattan, which are abundant in the town.

Go said they are also urging residents to use bayong (native woven bag) and paper bags in carrying goods.

He said the town’s market administrator and the treasurer were tasked with implementing the ordinance.

Enforcers

Violators will be fined P1,500 for the first offense, P2,000 for the second offense, and P2,500 and/or imprisonment of 15 to 30 days for the third and succeeding offenses, Go said.

San Mariano (pop: 41,309 as of 2000) is a first-class town where illegal logging was rampant in the 1970s and 1980s.

Efforts to reduce the amount of non-biodegradable wastes in the country have proven fruitless so far.

In Metro Manila, authorities are trying – unsuccessfully - to implement a waste segregation program in which biodegradable and non-biodegradable wastes would be separated by households before these are picked up by garbage trucks.

marites4

September 22nd, 2005, 09:46 PM

Yehey ! that was quick must have read your post. Hope other town follows.

Mango

September 22nd, 2005, 10:05 PM

hope they set good example so that MM will follow suit.
VIVA SAN MARIANO ISABELA!!!

Lili

September 22nd, 2005, 11:16 PM

I don't know. I really got used to plastic bags especially if you buy goods from the wet market. I think it's just too onerous to penalize people for using plastic bags.

The plastic bags are actually helpful when you try to segregate trash for collection and disposal. Reuse these for these purposes so that when it rains, the trash is not all over the place while it is awaiting collection by the garbage trucks and so that the collection process is not as unsanitary than having exposed garbage cans/bins.

By implementing this ordinance, next thing you know, they are going to say that their bamboo/rattan products are running out because of excessive harvesting.

What about in Japan, what do they do for waste management?

tigidig14

September 23rd, 2005, 01:05 AM

By implementing this ordinance, next thing you know, they are going to say that their bamboo/rattan products are running out because of excessive harvesting.

n germpro too :okay: u dont know if some salmonella was left from last palengke. i remember we had those type of bayong. i never saw my mom wash those.

Lili

September 23rd, 2005, 03:29 AM

^^ You're right @tigidig. The bayongs can be unsanitary if you just use it with the produce just covered with newspapers and banana leaves.

paulkrps

October 11th, 2005, 10:30 PM

garbage even here in toronto is getting to be an issue. recent amendments for next year, 5 bags for next year each week, then it will be 4 for the next year.

Mango

November 29th, 2005, 09:26 AM

QC chosen as pilot area for Swedish recycling program
By Perseus Echeminada
The Philippine Star 11/29/2005

The Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) has chosen Quezon City as the pilot area for the implementation of a systematic garbage reduction and recycling program.

In a report to Quezon City Mayor Feliciano Belmonte Jr., Frederika Rentoy, chief of the city’s Environment Protection and Management Division (EPWD), said the Swedish government would be funding the setting up of material recovery facilities (MRFs) and equipment.

MRFs segregate bio-waste from non-bio waste and process biodegradable waste into fertilizer.

Rentoy said the SIDA chose two clustered barangay areas for the project, which the city government is implementing in compliance with the provisions of the Solid Waste Management Act.

She said the first phase of the program would be the profiling of barangays, the organization of clusters and the formation of a waste management plan. The final phase would be the setting up of the MRFs.

MRFs were first introduced in Barangay Holy Spirit, which had significantly reduced its garbage output.

The Holy Spirit MRF, which has already received several awards and citations, generates and processes high-grade fertilizer from its compost area where bio waste is deposited.

The facility also tapped residents to make handbags out of newspapers and empty tetra packs segregated from the MRF.

As an incentive to the barangays, the city government will reimburse waste management expenses to make them more self reliant and effective in the collection and disposal of garbage.

dancethingy

November 29th, 2005, 01:01 PM

YAY, so glad at least something is being done about the trash

I have a question, Is burning trash illegal around here? I think it should be because it just kills my lungs.

Æsahættr

May 29th, 2006, 01:01 AM

Water pressure is so low though in Manila.

sandrin

July 16th, 2006, 08:25 PM

Manila Water, ADB sign tieup for improved access for the poor

MANILA Water Co. Inc. (MWCI) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) recently signed an agreement that would provide piped-in water access to residents of the east zone concession, which the Ayala family-led distributor controls.

The pilot project was signed by Bindu Lohani, director general of ADB’s Regional and Sustainable Development Department, and Antonio Aquino, MWCI president.

The project calls for setting up small-piped water networks along low-income communities in urban areas in Rizal province to be finished in less than a year. Initial projects are expected to benefit a thousand households in Cainta, Taytay and San Mateo. The new household connections will cost the residents only P12 a cubic meter or savings of more than P40 a cubic meter.

“The project is being undertaken in areas where water piped in by utilities is not available to consumers, who have to get their water from vendors at inflated costs,” Lohani said

The project also includes conducting surveys to determine the profile of water consumers and small-scale water providers, setting up a registration system for small-scale water providers, evaluating the pilot project implementation, and developing a tool kit to replicate the effort.

Lohani said the project is in line with achieving the Millennium Development Goal 10 of sustainable access to safe drinking water.
--Euan C. Anonuevo

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Water, water everywhere, but not a drop to drink

BY FREDDIE TINGA

The last few days have served as a reminder that rainy season is once again upon us. Communities brave strong wind and heavy rains; floods inundate streets and households; classes and work end up being suspended. It is surprising therefore that we have a problem not only of too much water, but inadequate supply as well. For a country surrounded by water, and with this much rainfall you have to wonder why we still have water shortages.

Taguig City is at the tail end of the water utility district. This, coupled with a limited budget, necessitated Manila Water allowing people’s organizations to bring in water from the main lines, and distribute it to some of the communities of Taguig. This act of cooperation and compassion was supposed to make cheap, clean water available for the first time to many of our communities.

What Manila Water failed to take into account was man’s greed. Some of these organizations proceeded by laying low quality pipes, that ran through canals and gutters and then charged their members double, sometimes triple what you would pay for had you gotten water straight from the tap.

The city government had also built water lines of its own, and working with Manila Water, mandated that organizations connecting to those lines had a ceiling on the price they could charge. This was not the case for the more enterprising water syndicates, who have now gone to court in attempts to prevent the dismantling of their operations. They insist that Manila Water granted them a monopoly when they were allowed to operate in the area. The vast majority of our constituents are clamoring for a direct connection that would free them from the control of these oppressive syndicates, but Manila Water has been put on the defensive by the very people they thought would assist them in their mission.

There is a lesson to be learned here. Water is essential for life. And the more precious something is, the more it is hoarded and the more it blinds the greedy. It is too important a resource to be left at the hands of just any Tom, Dick or Juan looking to earn a quick buck. The thought of an early water connection from these organizations had initially excited our residents, but the reality of overpriced bills and unclean water has quickly turned them off to this quick and dirty solution. If we are to do things right, we must understand that there are no easy shortcuts. It is a lesson that Manila Water, the city government and the people of Taguig are slowly learning.

Lili

July 17th, 2006, 01:18 AM

Provision of potable water is really a perennial problem in Metro Manila and the Philippines. For a water-logged country, that is quite uncanny. We are in the 21st century and people in some areas are still living like in some backward nation sans ready supply of clean, affordable water, which is such a basic amenity -- more important than electricity.

Water is a public utility that should be managed by a public agency or the sale and distribution of which, regulated by government. Water provision and sewerage system management should not be treated as a "for profit" industry. It is a public good. Hence, imposing a ceiling on the price that can be charged to the public is but right. That is basic in macro-economics. Public goods are one of those that should not be totally governed by a laissez faire law of supply and demand system. Government intervention and regulation are needed in this regard.

dinabaw

July 17th, 2006, 04:33 AM

From Dumoy to the world
By Carlos Isagani Zarate
Inquirer News Service

THE DUMOY fresh water is probably one of the best in the world. Ask any Davaoeño and he will proudly attest to this without any hint of exaggeration. Dumoy, a suburban community situated along the southern coastal area of Davao City's Talomo District, is sitting on an aquifer whose source of water is traced to the bosom of Mt. Apo, the country's highest peak.

Experts say that through the process of natural filtration, millions of gallons of rainwater collected in the aquifer have been filtered "crystal clean" beneath the earth's surface by molten rocks and other elements spewed by volcanic eruptions in the past.

"That's the reason why the water in Dumoy tastes pure, fresh and good. It has no foul-smell; its quality is one of the best in the world," said Dominador Lopez Jr., an executive of the Davao City Water District (DCWD).

dancethingy

July 17th, 2006, 12:30 PM

^^^^ WOW, i want me some of that water!

WawaY[625]

July 17th, 2006, 01:42 PM

dinabaw

July 17th, 2006, 02:24 PM

deleted

dinabaw

July 17th, 2006, 02:25 PM

^^ Yeah i remember that! a rival city i think and they label it in a different name hehehe sa dumoy lang diay nanguha!!! :scouserd:

ishtefh_03

July 17th, 2006, 04:05 PM

never pa kame nag apply for a water services like nawasa, we have our own jetmatic ba yun, my sarili kaming tank na dalawang tubo ang lalim ata nun, and my filter pa yun, kaya wala kaming water bill kasama na sya sa electric bill namin... pero ngayon nag susupply na rin kame ng distilled water para sa inumin... ung alkaline pa na good for the health daw...

dinabaw

July 17th, 2006, 04:31 PM

Just got this article from Yahoo news

Is there a "Fountain of Youth"? If so, perhaps it can be found in the residual mayhem of one of geology's greatest crashes, the point where the African, Asian and European tectonic plates collide. This is a lavishly fertile land of volcanoes and mineral hot springs, a land perhaps more gracious to health and healing than any other, and yet it is so little-known as to be almost abstract.

Almost 80 percent of Macedonia is mountainous, and herein gurgle and effervesce some 65 thermo-mineral healing springs. Just 23 kilometers southeast of Skopje, where the river Pcinja passes through the Katlanovo hills, is the Katlanovska Banja, a "center for prolonged healing and rehabilitation." It seems the anti-spa — no sandalwood incense, kukui nut massage oil, lavender-scented candles or Enya audio here. Its outside is distinguished by the number of broken windows and cracks running down the crumbly walls. The delicate perfume of rotten eggs wafts.

But people don't come here for the ambiance. They come for the waters.

Since the second century B.C. the Romans and subsequent cognoscenti have used these baths to cure rheumatism, arthritis, and a host of chronic, neurological and orthopedic diseases. It's also considered a fountain of youth, and villagers come from all over with plastic bottles to fill for timely consumption.

In a starched white uniform and sensible shoes, Dr. Stefonkos Mateuska, the chief rehabilitation specialist at Katlanovska, tells me the water is hyper-mineralized, a unique cocktail of sulfur, chlorides, carbonates, calcium, iron, magnesium, and more.

In the main bathhouse, which is gender segregated, I strip and ease into the hot water, which is indeed blissfully soothing. In the pool I meet two enthusiasts: Koce Sokolov, who was in an awful car crash that broke his back, and has found near total healing here; and Dusan Antovski, who shows a six-inch scar on his knee from a basketball accident. He says he hobbled here on crutches, and after 20 days of treatments he threw his crutches away, and now he runs.

Later Mateuska tells me she has never seen an American at this spa — it is just not known beyond these borders. But she compares its waters to the spas of Vichy, with one noteworthy difference. Whereas treatments in France often go for $200, or even $2,000, here the soak I just enjoyed was $2.

Can water make miracles?

High in the blue mountains above the village of Drugovo, inside the walls of the Monastery of Sveta Bogorodica Precista, there is a cool mountain spring that serves all denominations with its healing powers. The nun who is caretaking when we arrive tells us that the water here regularly performs miracles. When I ask if she has witnessed any, she cites a 17-year-old girl who suddenly went mute. She came here and drank the water, washed some over her face, then spent the night in the adjacent church with her mother next to her. In the morning she opened the door and her voice rang over the hills.

The nun herself is living testament. In 1999 she and six others, including a three-month-old baby, all who had partaken in the holy water, left the monastery for a road trip. On the second curve going down the steep mountain the car veered off a cliff. It crashed into a tree and was totaled. Yet miraculously all seven, including the baby, were thrown safely from the car before impact. The police later puzzled over the impossibility as they found all the doors locked and the windows rolled up in the smashed vehicle.

The nun says also that many have journeyed here for fertility. After imbibing these sacred waters, which she says are blessed by Jesus Christ, then crawling three times through a low stone arch, and worming thrice through a rosary rope the size of a hula hoop, the visitors almost always create the miracle of new life, she says.

It's not just the waters that cure, but the plants as well. Wherever one sets a foot in Macedonia there are brilliant plants and flowers with naturopathic powers. One of the secrets of Alexander the Great's success was that he and his soldiers knew these properties. There are endemics, such as Zolta koskoina, which was a poultice for battle bruises; Stellaria media, used to heal sword cuts; Arnica Montana, which helped with swelling from a javelin wound; and Narthecium ossifragum, particularly effective in healing fractures from bludgeon blows. When battles went bad, a tonic from saffron was used to alleviate post-traumatic stress syndrome. Then there was the lobe-leafed cemerika, a lethal toxin used by witches and conspirators. Some theorize cemerika was used to poison Alexander the Great, ending his career of conquest at the age of 32.

sandrin

July 28th, 2006, 03:51 AM

Salcon to invest P900M in water infra projects
Inquirer
Last updated 03:29am (Mla time) 07/25/2006
http://business.inq7.net/money/topstories/view_article.php?article_id=11554

SALCON Pte. Ltd.

"We are willing to engage in water projects, whether it would be under BOT [build-operate-transfer arrangement], as well as design and build projects required by local companies and local governments," K.K. Tan, Salcon general manager for water and environment division, told the Inquirer.

The company was recently commissioned by the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System to build a P700-million sewerage treatment facility for the eastern concession area of Metro Manila and nearby provinces.

Tan said Salcon built Cebu Hilton Resort Hotel's 200 million liter a day water facility, Republic Asahi Glass Corp.' Manila water treatment facility, Victorias Milling Co.'s water treatment plant, and Hitachi Plant Engineering & Construction Co.'s water treatment facilities.Christine A. Gaylican, with INQ7.ne

Lili

July 31st, 2006, 04:56 AM

UP engineers’ landfill is a dream dump

First posted 05:45am (Mla time) July 27, 2006
By Gerry Lirio
Inquirer

Editor's Note: Published on Page A1 of the July 27, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer

IT WILL BE A DREAM DUMP.

Garbage collectors and segregators, and even trucks and drivers will be there in bright, color-coded uniforms -- blue shirts for those who want to get plastic wastes, red for those interested in paper, and green for those looking for broken glass, metals, wiring and other trash.

This is how a group of young engineers from the University of the Philippines at Los Baños (UPLB) envisions a P55-million sanitary landfill project in a 75-hectare mountainous property in Norzagaray, Bulacan, in the next few months.

Once operational, it can service the entire Metro Manila and Bulacan province.

The site in Sitio Tiakad, Barangay San Mateo, is the best ever for a landfill project for its sheer size and strategic location, said the project proponent, chemical engineer Ramon Angelo. “A waste memorial park, a showcase of waste handling in the country,” he said.

“This project will hopefully be a very good example of a facility for proper solid waste management in the country, with all its required components,” said engineer Mylene M. Palaypayon, the team leader.

Angelo said the project was conceptualized in line with the government’s policy to adopt a systematic, comprehensive and sound ecological solid waste management program under Republic Act No. 9003, or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000, to ensure public health and protection of the environment.

ECC grant

Officials of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) granted an environment clearance certificate for the project on June 23, with a Category 4 grade, the highest given so far to a landfill project. The document allows the proponent to widen the area to 148 hectares of land in the next few years.

All landfills, it is said, are dumps, but not all landfills are dumps. Unlike an ordinary dump, a landfill is covered with a layer of soil after treating every three to four meters of garbage. Aside from soil cover, a landfill, before receiving waste, is spread with composite soil liner to protect the watershed.

A landfill is also treated with enzymes to prevent pests and foul smell.

At least 10 major dumps and landfills service Metro Manila. Among these are Payatas, 23.2 ha; San Mateo, 73 ha; Clark, 85 ha; and Carmona, 63 ha.

A former dump, the 22-ha Smokey Mountain in Tondo, Manila, was closed by the Ramos administration in May 1993. It had a Category 2 rating; San Mateo, Category 3.

The Norzagaray landfill is expected to receive between 2,000 and 3,000 tons of garbage a day, compared with Clark’s 1,500 tons and Payatas, 1,200 tons. The 63-ha Carmona has a daily capacity of only 1,000 tons, while Smokey Mountain had 1,500 tons.

Inverted pyramid

Tons of garbage usually form a huge “pyramid-type mountain” daily in existing dumps and landfills. But in Norzagaray, which is on a mountaintop 80 meters above sea level, it will be an inverted pyramid with an estimated depth of 60 meters.

“We will never have a landslide here, the kind Payatas had experienced years ago,” Angelo said. It will take at least 10 years to fill up the 18.8 ha of the Norzagaray landfill that is currently being developed, and about 20 years for the entire 148-ha property.

Bulacan province has a total waste generation of about 700 tons per day and Quezon City, 1,700 tons. Assuming that all local government units in Bulacan and in Quezon City will tap the new facility, with waste diversion of 15-20 percent per day, the 18.8-ha facility is estimated to have a life span of 10 years with a total volume of 8,820,000 cubic meters.

Construction of the access roads will be finished this month. The landfill can start receiving wastes from neighboring towns and cities in August or September.

This early, two American companies have expressed interest in helping Angelo’s group develop the area. The group will shoulder the project’s initial funds.

Colors galore

Once operational, garbage segregators will wear hard hats, rubber boots, gas masks, goggles and gloves, aside from color-coded uniforms. Supervisors and security people will wear yellow uniforms, while engineers and executives will be in white.

The landfill will be operational 24/7. It can accommodate 200 garbage trucks a day.

To date, however, the Norzagaray landfill has not been authorized to receive hospital and other toxic wastes. “We are capable, but we are not allowed yet. But we do have provisions just in case toxic wastes land upon us by accident,” Angelo said.

Angelo discovered the site while looking for a “mine-out” or a source of soil for areas left by cement mining companies in Norzagaray.

The site is 14 km southeast of Norzagaray’s town proper, bounded in the east by the Sierra Madre mountain range and on the south, by the town of Montalban in Rizal province.

It is accessible not only to Bulacan communities but also to northern Metro Manila and some towns of Rizal. It is 21.5 km from Commonwealth Road in Quezon City and 9 km from the Novaliches-Norzagaray national road in Barangay Igay, San Jose del Monte City in Bulacan.

Forest ambience

If the C-6 road project pushes through, the landfill will have a main entrance there, only 5 km from the town proper of San Mateo.

The area was once considered a rustic place with pristine scenery, good water quality, ambient air and ecologically sound environment.

Based on a study done by Palaypayon’s group, the site, although devoid of any primary forest growths, still has the ambience of forest scenery due to its rolling to hilly terrain, with steep cliffs of high relief in some sections of the deeply incised narrow valleys.

The view from the top still offers a panorama of abundant vegetation. Different varieties of fruit-bearing trees are mixed with secondary forest growths and tropical grasses and shrubs.

Groundwater is considered poor. The water bearing horizons are tight, indicating a very low hydraulic conductivity due to the inherent characteristics of the rock suite in the project.

Angelo abandoned his initial plan to dig soil for mining sites after the owners of the private property said they wanted to develop the rugged terrain into a residential-commercial area. Some of them met with Angelo and his team but chose a custodian to deal with them on the agreement to lease and develop the property.

A team of experts

He later commissioned a former DENR official to draft a proposal, but the work was rejected by the department for its infirmities. The ECC was granted only after a second group, the UPLB team led by Palaypayon and Marloe B. Sundo, submitted a more comprehensive concept design.

Palaypayon is a civil and environment engineer. Sundo is also a civil engineer who majored in transportation engineering. Both teach at UPLB and are experienced in environmental engineering, primarily on landfill design.

“We are working as a team of different technical expertise, one is working on transportation engineering and surveying, one is working on drainage engineering, one on geotechnical engineering, and I am into environmental engineering,” Palaypayon said.

“We are composed of relatively young engineers. But we have our own capacities to technically address the needs of the project,” she said.

First phase

Norzagaray is her team’s second landfill after San Jose del Monte. The first of the project’s three phases will focus on an 8.87-ha portion on the west, bordering the national highway and adjacent to the proposed alignment with C-6.

It will cover all the project components -- sanitary landfill, materials recovery facility, dumping and tipping pads, compost-fertilizer pit and leachate ponds -- as well as access road, drainage facility, administration building, canteen, water supply system and workers’ quarters.

Phases 2 and 3 involve expansion to the rest of the property.

marites4

July 31st, 2006, 07:13 AM

its a big problem when the population doubles in 30 years. kaya mga tsong at tsang hinay hinay sa baby making.

oz.fil

July 31st, 2006, 10:06 AM

introduce paper bags, reusable bags and bio degradable plastics...

ergit222

August 2nd, 2006, 08:45 AM

San Fernando's Sanitary Engineered Land Fill (http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showpost.php?p=9111358&postcount=39)
The first ever sanitary engineered landfill in San Fernando City was chosen by the World Bank (WB) as its model for a Design-Build Operate (DBO) type of landfill project all over the world is nearing completion.

vince_rilian

August 2nd, 2006, 09:13 AM

hehehe, go UPLB! hmmm, the eco waste management of LB-Sci-Nature City is worth citing....

LordCarnal

August 2nd, 2006, 11:22 AM

What's the difference between a sanitary landfill and a landfill as stated above? We have a sanitary landfill here in Cebu and I remember during our class fieldtrip, I saw some sort of pipes (similar to water/gas pipes) protruding from the ground. What are these for?

vince_rilian

August 2nd, 2006, 04:04 PM

those pipes are for allowing the "biogas" produced to be vented out of the covered garbage....

sandrin

August 16th, 2006, 09:12 AM

Sanitary Landfill must be off limits to garbage hawker and squatters. Only registered dump trucks and registered (employed) garbage sorter must be allowed in the vicinity.
The operators should hinder the invasion of individual garbage hawker that would later on squat in tha area. And it's time for smokey mountain to be totally closed down. Palagay ko isa yan sa contributor sa kabahuan ng Manila Bay. The Payatas dump site should be closed down also, lalo na malapit pa sa la mesa, eeew.

PowerSmart

February 5th, 2007, 04:42 AM

Landfill/Waste Dumps

Does anybody knows if the Norzagaray sanitary landfill is designed also to generate electricity?

dinabaw

October 27th, 2007, 02:20 PM

How do you deal garbage in your city?

dinabaw

October 27th, 2007, 02:22 PM

Davao City landfill faciltiy in Carmen ,Mintal .

http://img140.imageshack.us/img140/6615/1768376507b659b3dd87vl3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img148.imageshack.us/img148/6351/176914650827abe8b786ke7.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img140.imageshack.us/img140/9523/1769227580b732be4ae6dh1.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img81.imageshack.us/img81/4581/176915546444e271cd41ux8.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Compactor Trucks

http://img171.imageshack.us/img171/7991/1773015509ce30da2b87hw6.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img527.imageshack.us/img527/4784/1773045213695cbdf5b2gz0.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img132.imageshack.us/img132/5517/17730493517f0caf3dc5dm3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Garbage Bins

green garbage bins are for non- biodegradable.
http://img171.imageshack.us/img171/8011/17730770192b1d18b386ue0.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

black garbage bins are for biodegradable.

http://img171.imageshack.us/img171/5553/1773073143c996c31a8eel6.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

new garbage bins to be put all over the city

http://img171.imageshack.us/img171/9509/17731049117acad322fakx0.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img527.imageshack.us/img527/1849/17731016153cfb03886fgk0.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

old and new garbage bins through out the city....

http://img508.imageshack.us/img508/100/1768003549e301aba8c8gg0.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img140.imageshack.us/img140/2169/176885363800553c2f2fns2.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/4918/1768870506f9b5cb15fdjr7.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img140.imageshack.us/img140/8260/176798704732220d4d7brr3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img135.imageshack.us/img135/9050/1767968201cb38933a80um0.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img140.imageshack.us/img140/1073/17689161422adb8ef5bbbk9.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img527.imageshack.us/img527/7351/1661921207b1d653c0d7tf3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
composting huts

MRF
http://img527.imageshack.us/img527/2953/16619143472f48d53165nu7.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img171.imageshack.us/img171/1135/1662726396da76be8227qp2.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Part of the top side of the MRF

http://img527.imageshack.us/img527/8683/16619143472f48d53165uo8.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

newly built holding cell
http://img132.imageshack.us/img132/1091/166177254577d5d0d439dy9.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/1572/1768753694430ce156c0pv4.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

staff house
http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/9427/1767918257896c9f2ac3ah7.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

keeping watchful eye for the job.
http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/3309/1769381282f154140c22cf1.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

dinabaw

October 27th, 2007, 04:14 PM

http://img156.imageshack.us/img156/2285/1768455533df6c654179ob3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img171.imageshack.us/img171/7393/1768419889c72f2ef620ui8.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/8011/1768540051d35966bfaetb8.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/4856/17685694430516901b1cxv3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img454.imageshack.us/img454/5920/1769433636f9b398961auq3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/6765/176927198800efb5459fdj6.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/6104/1769411070db1e437fa1qh3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

underconstruction...
http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/3167/1768578983b51bfb7724av3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

ofw_cebu

October 27th, 2007, 04:20 PM

nice development, hope other cities will do the same.....it's high time we need to protect our environment as well by way of recycling and/or managing our waste properly....good work......

Eriq

October 27th, 2007, 09:59 PM

Davao City landfill faciltiy in Carmen ,Mintal .
<snip>

:banana:Davao is very progressive when it comes to waste management.

tough

October 27th, 2007, 10:11 PM

http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m300/gors_iligan/ako6.jpg

http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m300/gors_iligan/ako5.jpg

Photo by:

tough

October 27th, 2007, 10:16 PM

^^ The MRF is targeted for completion on August 2008. :)

ofw_cebu

October 27th, 2007, 10:25 PM

do we have like this in Cebu? cebu peeps.....any idea....???

kiretoce

October 28th, 2007, 12:15 AM

:applause: Davao City has got it going on! Now why can't other Philippine cities do the same with their garbage and waste problems? :dunno:

iloilocitykid

October 28th, 2007, 09:41 AM

^^ Blame it to incompetent leaders and irresponsible rubbish throwing civilians.

le Reine

October 28th, 2007, 12:54 PM

:applause: Davao City has got it going on! Now why can't other Philippine cities do the same with their garbage and waste problems? :dunno:

Marikina has a MEF too. I'm not sure with other cities in MM. That's why I was really impressed with BF. Even their garbage management is the best in MM.

Paranaque doesn't have a MRF but we have a small dumpsite. Unfortuantely, this dumpsite is not enough for the needs of the city.

dinabaw

October 28th, 2007, 02:24 PM

http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m300/gors_iligan/ako6.jpg

http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m300/gors_iligan/ako5.jpg

Photo by:

very nice! landfill is in the pipeline too?

dinabaw

October 28th, 2007, 02:25 PM

Marikina has a MEF too. I'm not sure with other cities in MM. That's why I was really impressed with BF. Even their garbage management is the best in MM.

Paranaque doesn't have a MRF but we have a small dumpsite. Unfortuantely, this dumpsite is not enough for the needs of the city.

Bayani talaga si Bayani :) what's an MEF ?

le Reine

October 28th, 2007, 03:06 PM

^^ay sorry, wrong spelling. It is supposed to be MRF (Material Recovery Facility).

dinabaw

October 28th, 2007, 03:10 PM

^^ ah ok , i remember sa Paranaque(?) meron incinirator facility buti di na tuloy yung project bec of CO2 emission

ofw_cebu

October 28th, 2007, 03:12 PM

le Reine

October 28th, 2007, 03:42 PM

^^ ah ok , i remember sa Paranaque(?) meron incinirator facility buti di na tuloy yung project bec of CO2 emission
really, I never heard such project.

MRF is really the key issue to help address the problem with the environment, I remember I read somewhere may isang barangay sa paranaque who also advocates recycling, which is a good sign, much better though if it's city wide implemented. Now, wish ko naman, sana sa Cebu meron ganon din.... :)
Hindi ko rin ito alam. Do you know what barangay is that?

r93k401

October 28th, 2007, 07:42 PM

^^ ah ok , i remember sa Paranaque(?) meron incinirator facility buti di na tuloy yung project bec of CO2 emission

Eto yata yung kulay green na planta sa bandang kaliwa ng coastal road when you are traveling toward cavite from baclaran? Another white elephant government project.... :ohno:

ofw_cebu

October 28th, 2007, 08:41 PM

if I remember it right, it was brgy. sun valley ba? basically, nagkaisa ang community to adopt recyling measures which ended up beautifying the place and have given jobs to its people..it was not a MRF like one in davao and Iligan, but at barangay level, I think they did a good job...

LGU may be able to tap the services of this company, considering they have activities lined up to help dissiminate information on l Solid Waste Management... http://www.swapp.org.ph/activities.html

bagel

October 28th, 2007, 11:01 PM

^^ Blame it to incompetent leaders and irresponsible rubbish throwing civilians.

It's not that simple though. The problem is that nobody wants to live near garbage. Even if you have great ideas for collecting garbage and placing them in proper landfill versus open dump sites, you still have to deal with local governments, and local residents who have to live with the rubbish.

Take for example the idea of a unified landfill and waste disposal facility for Metro Manila. It's more feasible to have a centralized waste facility rather than one for each of the cities and municipalities of Metro Manila. We all know we need one, but where to locate one? There's no room in Metro Manila so we have to look outside of Metro Manila. And incineration is out of the question because of the Clean Air Act.

Granted, there are those in government who make some money on the side from having the tambakans in their neighborhoods the way many people think former Mayor Mathay made some money from the QC dumps. But that doesn't mean there are no people in government who are really looking for an answer.

There have been several plans introduced, like the San Mateo Landfill in Rizal, but the residents of nearby towns and cities like Antipolo really objected to it. Is that about incompetent leadership? The MMDA and the Office of the President were really trying to work this out and they were good leaders in trying to do this. The leaders of the surrounding LGUs were not incompetent leaders because they were looking out for the residents of their respective towns. In the end, would you like someone else's garbage in your own backyard? I wouldn't blame Antipolo for not wanting Metro Manila's garbage. Good for their Mayor for listening to their citizens.

Davao is a great example because they did not grow beyond their means, the way the whole Metro Manila area did-- its waste disposal facilities were designed to scale up as the city grows and is also located in municipally owned land so there's no need to pass your garbage onto someone else. But it's not possible everywhere.

Certainly irresponsible citizens have their share of the blame, but once that problem is solved, you still have all the garbage of the responsible citizens to take care of. And it needs creative solutions... but Metro Manila is in a bind because it has no land and it's so big and produces so many metric tons of garbage that outsourcing this refuse is hard to accept for whoever is taking it in. So it's a very complicated situation. I don't think all in government can be blamed.

AH-7Raja

October 29th, 2007, 01:35 AM

nice were catching up na.

dinabaw

October 29th, 2007, 03:25 AM

MRF is really the key issue to help address the problem with the environment, I remember I read somewhere may isang barangay sa paranaque who also advocates recycling, which is a good sign, much better though if it's city wide implemented. Now, wish ko naman, sana sa Cebu meron ganon din.... :)

I think Cebu has MRF maybe i diff. system or a run by private entiites ,simple lang naman ang MRF hindi na kailangan mga hi-tech facility . MRF parang ring junkshop you sell the non biogradable materials like plastic, steel , rubber etc.,hindi kailangan asng facility maganda tulad ng Iligan , puede rin sa baranggay level lang.

I think the Iligan MRF facility is made to be profit driven and it's very good bec it helps the economy of there city and we know may mga steel mills sila and i think a glass processing plant .yun naman sa Davao it is integrated sa aming Solid Waste Management it need the MRF para ma seperate yung mabubluok at di mabubulok kasi ang use ng landfill is only for nabubulok , yes we have a non biodegradable and biodegradable garbage bins pero marami pa ring matitigas ang ulo kaya you need a MRF.

dinabaw

October 29th, 2007, 03:27 AM

Eto yata yung kulay green na planta sa bandang kaliwa ng coastal road when you are traveling toward cavite from baclaran? Another white elephant government project.... :ohno:

yes a white elephant yun pero puede nilang gawaing MRF .

dinabaw

October 29th, 2007, 03:40 AM

It's not that simple though. The problem is that nobody wants to live near garbage. Even if you have great ideas for collecting garbage and placing them in proper landfill versus open dump sites, you still have to deal with local governments, and local residents who have to live with the rubbish.

Take for example the idea of a unified landfill and waste disposal facility for Metro Manila. It's more feasible to have a centralized waste facility rather than one for each of the cities and municipalities of Metro Manila. We all know we need one, but where to locate one? There's no room in Metro Manila so we have to look outside of Metro Manila. And incineration is out of the question because of the Clean Air Act.

Granted, there are those in government who make some money on the side from having the tambakans in their neighborhoods the way many people think former Mayor Mathay made some money from the QC dumps. But that doesn't mean there are no people in government who are really looking for an answer.

There have been several plans introduced, like the San Mateo Landfill in Rizal, but the residents of nearby towns and cities like Antipolo really objected to it. Is that about incompetent leadership? The MMDA and the Office of the President were really trying to work this out and they were good leaders in trying to do this. The leaders of the surrounding LGUs were not incompetent leaders because they were looking out for the residents of their respective towns. In the end, would you like someone else's garbage in your own backyard? I wouldn't blame Antipolo for not wanting Metro Manila's garbage. Good for their Mayor for listening to their citizens.

Davao is a great example because they did not grow beyond their means, the way the whole Metro Manila area did-- its waste disposal facilities were designed to scale up as the city grows and is also located in municipally owned land so there's no need to pass your garbage onto someone else. But it's not possible everywhere.

Certainly irresponsible citizens have their share of the blame, but once that problem is solved, you still have all the garbage of the responsible citizens to take care of. And it needs creative solutions... but Metro Manila is in a bind because it has no land and it's so big and produces so many metric tons of garbage that outsourcing this refuse is hard to accept for whoever is taking it in. So it's a very complicated situation. I don't think all in government can be blamed.

well said . hindi pa naman siguro huli ang lahat sa MM, kailangan lang talaga magbigayan at tutukan ang problema, say maglagay sila ng landfill sa Bulacan (kung ayaw ng munisipyo or syudad nila) but they have to pay a high price para mainganyon rin ang Bulacan na mag host ng landfill at hindi open dump site tulad ng sa San Mateo .

Ex!lE

October 29th, 2007, 04:46 AM

Waste management (http://http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2007/oct/29/yehey/business/20071029bus11.html)
By Dennis Berino

The Philippine Ecological Solid Waste Management Act was passed in 2000. The Act specifies that the State should adopt a systematic, comprehensive and ecological solid waste management program. The State shall, among other things, ensure the protection of public health and environment; set guidelines for solid waste avoidance and volume reduction through such measures as composting, recycling, reuse, and recovery; encourage cooperation and self-regulation among waste generators through the application of market-based instruments; and assume primary enforcement and responsibility for solid waste management through the local government units (LGUs) with the help of other sectors.

A quick survey of Metro Manila shows only a handful of LGUs implement the salient provisions of the Act. It certainly is not happening in the community I live in and whenever I ask my class if their respective LGUs implement the Act, not even 10 percent of my students say their communities have programs for recycling, reuse, recovery and waste segregation. I am pretty certain this is replicated in most LGUs all over the country.

Seven years after the Act was passed, we are still heavily reliant on the usual way of managing our garbage—thru the traditional collection and transport of garbage to a final disposal site. Lately however, there has been a recurring resistance from the primary landfill destination of Metro Manila garbage. The 8,000 cubic meters of solid waste the metropolis generates daily is being dumped mostly in the municipality of Rodriguez in Rizal province. And the provincial government of Rizal is serving notice that it can no longer accommodate the huge garbage it has been receiving from the metropolis.

Landfills in Smokey Mountain in Tondo; Payatas in Quezon City and now Rodriguez in Rizal, will eventually reach their saturation point which means looking for another dumping place for the gargantuan amount of garbage that the more than 10 million Metro Manilans generate.

The cost of developing, operating, and maintaining landfills is handled by the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA). MMDA’s waste management budget accounts for a substantial share of its expenditures. And unless certain creative community-based interventions are adopted, an ever increasing amount will be allocated yearly for landfill operation and maintenance which will continue to breed disappearing viable landfills, not to mention the landfill’s big-time contribution to pollution and environmental decay. And more important, substantial amount of waste is not being salvaged for recycling and reuse.

Integral to the solution of the garbage problem is the involvement of households in managing their waste. Left-over food can be passed on to certain segments in the community who collect them as feeds for their piggery business. Newspapers, bottles, cartons, batteries, tires and other old junk have traditionally been bought by itinerant buyers who sell them to bigger junk collectors for recycling and reuse. If you have a green thumb, composting is good way of generating organic fertilizer from your biodegradable waste. And a garage sale will not only give you additional cash, it will also help in extending the use of items you no longer want or need which others may still find useful.

Some countries are already employing methanation technologies, which is not yet in our country, but which I hope will be introduced soon. This involves processing city sewage and garbage into methane gas which can be compressed into tanks for use in vehicles and homes as alternative clean fuel.

Some outlets have established week-end waste markets where people can bring identified waste for collection and get paid for doing it.

The possibilities are endless. We just need to have the will, sense of community and collective effort to contribute our share in creatively managing the garbage which we ourselves generate.

The author teaches at the De La Salle Professional Schools Ramon V. del Rosario Sr. Graduate School of Business. He welcomes comments at dennis.berino@dlsps.edu.ph.

dinabaw

October 29th, 2007, 04:48 AM

Certainly irresponsible citizens have their share of the blame, but once that problem is solved, you still have all the garbage of the responsible citizens to take care of. And it needs creative solutions... but Metro Manila is in a bind because it has no land and it's so big and produces so many metric tons of garbage that outsourcing this refuse is hard to accept for whoever is taking it in. So it's a very complicated situation. I don't think all in government can be blamed.

This is very true!our mayor did warn the citizens of seperating the non-biodegradable and biodegradable pero ang tigas talaga ng ulo ng mga Filipino ,he even threatened them na ipapasok sila sa trashbin pero walang effect.

Landfill can be sustainable in time, even in one area pag puno na yung 1 side puede na naman hukayin yun old one. But Metro Manila have a problem how to coup of every day pile of garbage even they have a landfill sa tingin ko 24/7 ang trabaho sa landfill area ,tapos pag saturated na hahanap na naman ng area.

dinabaw

October 29th, 2007, 05:04 AM

tough

October 31st, 2007, 07:40 PM

very nice! landfill is in the pipeline too?

I dont know if the city goverment will still using a landfill after the MRF once completed. AFAIK, they will going to close that exixting landfill at Brgy. Santiago.

As of now, we have a Barangay Materials Recovery Facility at Brgy. Del Carmen which was formally launched last November 10, 2006 has been assessed as effective in its few months of operation.

The city government is also planning to put up a Barangay Materials Recovery Facility at each barangay in the city.

dinabaw

November 1st, 2007, 09:44 AM

I dont know if the city goverment will still using a landfill after the MRF once completed. AFAIK, they will going to close that exixting landfill at Brgy. Santiago.

As of now, we have a Barangay Materials Recovery Facility at Brgy. Del Carmen which was formally launched last November 10, 2006 has been assessed as effective in its few months of operation.

The city government is also planning to put up a Barangay Materials Recovery Facility at each barangay in the city.

good for Iligan! pero dapat landfill na lalo na your close to nature tapos yung Maria Cristina falls.

Ex!lE

November 1st, 2007, 10:31 AM

Special Report trash talk

Solid-waste commission lacks funding (http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2007/nov/01/yehey/top_stories/20071101top7.html)

By Nora O. Gamolo Senior Desk Editor

Editor’s note: The previous part reported a law on solid-waste management exists, but it is weak. That install*ment centered on the views of Dr. Metodio Palaypay, who was instrumental in creating the Solid Waste Management Commission. After it came into being, even Palaypay was critical of the commission.

Last of two parts

To say that civil society just wants to pounce on the government where it concerns ecological solid-waste management may be an uncharitable and inaccurate accusation.

One civil-society advocate, who asked not to be named, said civil-society recognizes the efforts and problems encountered by the National Solid Waste Management Commission, but that it cannot give full support to the agency owing to its undelivered promises.

“How could you advocate for a unit which you know you will soon hit at for inaction?” the environmentalist asked.

Foremost of their expectations is the database of garbage-disposal areas and government steps addressing the trash issue and promoting solid-waste management.

“We also need to assess the country’s environmental situation—this task is not purely the government’s,” said one civil-society advocate. This source cited the government’s gargantuan resources and political command, making it, rather than civil society, better placed to start off putting up the database.

The lawyer Zoilo Andin, executive director of the beleaguered commission, agrees with points raised by civil society, but says it is hobbled by logistical problems, apparently referring to the agency’s lack of regular funds.

Recurring cash shortages also mean that a unit is beholden to the source of regular funds. The first task of a foreign-funded training program is the conduct of training for this program, if only to comply with the wishes of the direct funder.

A redirection of the unit’s focus costs its advocacy to promote ecological solid-waste management before many sectors, and other commitments as well.

In the absence of regular funds, the commission will also lack money for conducting regular monitoring work expected of them under the law.

Its failure to do so has been a major source of dissatisfaction for civil society.

The Office of the President, in its budget proposals prepared since 2001, has consistently failed to guarantee funding for the commission. Hence, the agency never knew the joy of being given an allocation under the General Appropriations Act.

Andin also admits to many weaknesses in implementing the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act or Republic Act (R.A.) 9003, which deter the commission from doing its job.

“Under Section 10 of R.A. 9003, we should train all local government units, but is this doable?” Andin doesn’t seem to think so. He said there are 42,000 barangays alone that have to set up material recovery facilities and other forms of ecological solid-waste management.

Also, cities and provinces should also build their own facilities to literally cover more ground.

“Some local governments also tell us that they can’t meet R.A. 9003 requirements because they are a fourth-class municipality and do not have enough funds. They also thought that this is an individual project, but they could actually band together,” Andin said.

Local governments can also form a consortium to handle their waste disposal. The proposal of clustering is “environmentally sound,” but, he said, a town, for example, will have to deal with the political loyalties of local government leaders who might be aligned with warring political factions, and thus cannot work together.

There was also disinformation that even small subdivisions should have landfills, which can be developed only at tremendous costs of at least P5 million a hectare, if one is to comply with all the prescribed technical requirements of maintaining a leachate pond, clay lining for the dump, methane gas tank and pipelines, among others.

All these frightened local governments and other sectors that would have wanted to comply with the law.

“Some dumps are near water sources, like esteros, rivers [and coastlines]. Local governments are finding it hard to implement R.A. 9003,” Andin said.

The culture of dumping also bogs down the implementation of the law, since many households and local governments do not comply with the legally mandated waste segregation at source, which would have cut down the residual waste that can be dumped in landfills or burned.

Andin said while Metro Manila still has no garbage crisis, one lesson learned in the past weeks is that it has no easily accessible backup system if wrangling over the Rodriguez (formerly Montalban) dump continues.

He added that the Clark landfill in Barangay Kalangitan, Capas, Tarlac, is an alternative, “but it is quite far from the people.”

This landfill is also controversial, though.

“A minimum of five hectares is needed for the construction of a sanitary landfill,” said environmentalists belonging to the EcoWaste Coalition, who also discounted this proposal.

The Clark landfill, the first in Tarlac, was “disastrous,” the coalition said in a statement. “Capas suffered from the stench emanating from the dump and from the endless parade of garbage trucks from other towns and cities.”

It seeks full public disclosure of all dumps and landfills, precisely because it wants to have these closed down to encourage people to embark on a more ecological management of garbage, or preferably aim for zero garbage.

“Solid-waste management is the first level of ecological management, pang-Grade 1,” Andin said. “If we fail in this, it would very hard for us to graduate to other, more complicated areas like water and coastal resource management, all of which the law also mandates.”

dinabaw

November 6th, 2007, 03:06 AM

dinabaw

November 6th, 2007, 03:15 PM

^^

DENR inaugurates P1.2-billion septage facility in Sarangani
(http://http://www.mb.com.ph/PROV20071030107229.html)

By LLALYN B. DE VERA

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) recently inaugurated a septage treatment facility (STF) in Sarangani province for the protection of the coastal waters of Sarangani Bay, under the P1.2 billion Southern Mindanao Integrated Coastal Zone Management Project (SMICZMP) of the government.

The Alabel’s septage facility in Alabel town, Sarangani province is one of the seven waste-water treatment facilities constructed under the DENR project, which is expected to provide desludging services to households in Alabel and General Santos City, one of the highly-urbanized cities in Southern Mindanao.

Sarangani Bay is part of the Sulu-Sulawesi Eco-Region and is one of the few areas where endangered marine mammals like "dugong’’ or sea cow and whales are found.

Other coastal municipalities that will benefit from the STFs are Glan, Kiamba, Maasim, Maitum, and Malapatan along Sarangani Bay, and in the municipality of Malalag along Malalag Bay in Davao Del Sur, which translates to around 241,539 beneficiaries.

Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Jose Atienza Jr. said the construction of facilities ensure the continuous supply of clean water to the residents in the province.

He explained that with the construction of a septage facility, pollution load that is directly dislodged in the bay will be reduced.

The treatment facilities are expected to reduce water pollution in Sarangani Bay at an estimated biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) load reduction of 3,389 kilograms per day or 47 percent of the estimated daily pollution load by the six coastal municipalities.

The DENR chief said the STFs are projected to generate an annual income of around R20 million from fees and health and sanitation benefits.

"The project will also continuously provide employment to local residents," Atienza said.

"It will also improve the aquatic environment including water quality of Sarangani and Malalag Bays to enhance the economic productivity and potentials in fishery and marine life, specifically tuna fish," he added.

The project is launched to enhance the strategic integration of the management of the coastal and watershed ecosystems.

This includes Mt. Matutum Protected Landscape in South Cotabato and Sarangani Bay Protected Seascape, Balasiao Watershed and Malalag Bay in Davao del Sur.

originally posted by @exile

rage@cebu

November 7th, 2007, 05:08 AM

do we have like this in Cebu? cebu peeps.....any idea....???

yes we DO!!! we even have the only operational waste to energy facility in the country which generates 10MW. do i need to elaborate Cebu's edge when it comes to waste management?

Ex!lE

November 8th, 2007, 02:34 AM

yes we DO!!! we even have the only operational waste to energy facility in the country which generates 10MW. do i need to elaborate Cebu's edge when it comes to waste management?

Inayawan garbage to power aircon at legislative building (http://www.philstar.com/index.php?Local%20News&p=52&type=2&sec=70&aid=20071107165)

Thursday, November 8, 2007

Aside from promoting the use of liquefied petroleum gas, now being utilized as alternative fuel by many taxicabs here, Cebu City is also working on the harnessing of gas produced by wastes dumped at the Inayawan landfill to produce electricity.

Mayor Tomas Osmeña said that with the expected inauguration of the pilot project on the harnessing of gas from garbage next month, the airconditioning system at the newly renovated legislative building would be operational few months from now, powered by garbage.

He noticed that despite calls to conserve energy, amid spiraling increases in the prices of oil products, little effort is seen to reduce energy consumption especially on the use of airconditioning systems.

“Airconditioning system has the highest energy consumption. But there is very little effort from the government to reduce the use of electricity in airconditioning,” he said.

With this, the mayor decided to design the airconditioning system of the new legislative building. So the city could save energy and finances by as much as 90 percent, he considered the use of biogas.

The mayor recently went to Thailand and India to study how these neighboring Asian countries are able to produce the “cleanest and cheapest airconditioning systems in the world”, which he said would be the same model he would use at the City Hall. He also intends to implement the same at the South Road Properties.

Osmeña said that while waiting for the new system to be operational, which would be in the next six months, the members of the City Council who would be occupying the renovated legislative building can temporarily use their old airconditioning units.

Once operational, he said that the new airconditioning system would be the “best in the Philippines and even in the world.”

City councilors and other officers of the City Hall are expected to be at the newly renovated legislative building by the end of this month. In fact, Vice Mayor Michael Rama already occupied his old office at the said building last week. - Wenna A. Berondo/MEEV

LordCarnal

November 9th, 2007, 06:10 PM

^^

I remember way back college, our thesis was about the Inayawan Sanitary Landfill.

It was quite big, and was divided in many areas -- hospital waste, plastic, biodegradable, etc. At the entrance, garbage trucks were weighed before going in.

I'm not sure if I remember this correctly but the entire Sanitary Landfill itself has some sort of a "covering" beneath it so that the waste products will not leak below.. There were also "collecting pipes" that collected the "leachate" which then directed them to a "leachate treatment facility" that looks like a big olympic sized swimming pool. The "leachate" was black in color and I can't imagine someone "swimming" there or what if someone accidentally drowns there? Hehehe.... I think there were also pipes that collected the methane, basta kinda modern siya during that time.

I think this is how a Sanitary Landfill works. Anyway, they said that it has overreached its lifespan already so they might as well have to build another one.

Inside the sanitary landfill was also the remnant of the multi-million peso incinerator which was never used.

PINOYmeat

November 10th, 2007, 12:49 PM

yes we DO!!! we even have the only operational waste to energy facility in the country which generates 10MW. do i need to elaborate Cebu's edge when it comes to waste management?

:cheers::cheers::cheers:

demented_pigeon

November 11th, 2007, 07:16 AM

http://img45.imageshack.us/img45/3373/stfmaitumvo5.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
MAITUM, Sarangani (November 5, 2007) – Photo shows the Septage Treatment Facility (STF) in Maitum, one of the six STFs in Sarangani Province. The STFs will primarily address wastewater problems in an effort to protect ground water sources as well as lessen the wastewater dumped into Sarangani Bay, a resource shared by six Sarangani towns plus the city of General Santos.

we need this kind of facilitiy for every major city in the country. We still heavily depend on sceptic tanks or "poso negro". Its about time cities should plan proper sewage systems and sewage treatment plants. houses' sewage shouls go to a centralized treatment plant.

dinabaw

November 11th, 2007, 02:37 PM

we need this kind of facilitiy for every major city in the country. We still heavily depend on sceptic tanks or "poso negro". Its about time cities should plan proper sewage systems and sewage treatment plants. houses' sewage shouls go to a centralized treatment plant.

agree! their's another system most european used kukunin yung laman ng septic tank i think every month tapos ilalagay sa kanilang septic waste facility i coconvert nila ng pataba or methane gas. another thing they are now making use of their biodegradable waste materials into composts in their own backyard then use as pataba for their garden or even they can sell it .

abskess

November 11th, 2007, 02:47 PM

dinabaw

November 19th, 2007, 03:39 AM

Monday, 19 November 2007

Kidapawan launches solid waste management program
MindaNews

Sunday, 18 November 2007 01:43
KIDAPAWAN CITY (MindaNews/Nov 17) – Local government officials, including environment experts from southwest Mindanao, today led the dry run of the implementation of the solid waste management project which aims to address the city’s growing garbage problems, especially in the public market.

City environment officer Edgar Paalan said the volume of garbage collected daily at the public market weighed about six tons, almost 30 percent of the total volume of garbage generated by the city.

But not a percentage of this garbage has been converted or recycled from the dump sites, he said.

He said the first step is to segregate waste into biodegradable, recyclable, and residual categories.

A biodegradable waste is a type of waste originating from plant or animal sources, which may be broken down by other living organisms. It can also be composted or used to produce biogas.

A recyclable waste is a type of waste that has the potential to be recycled, including scrap iron, non-ferrous metals, bottles, glass, plastics, and paper.

The dry run, which ends on November 26, includes a cleanup drive within the market and Poblacion area, distribution of information materials, posting of solid waste management signages, and actual waste segregation.

The full implementation of the program starts on Nov 27.

Paalan said that with a reinforced solid waste management plan they hope to convert at least 40 percent of the city’s biodegradable waste into other types.

The city is also set to construct a P5-million wastewater treatment facility for the wet market.

Paalan said that the market, including the slaughter house, releases at least 35 cubic meters of wastewater everyday. This is discharged into the Nuangan River, one of the longest rivers in the city.

The facility, he said, is capable of converting at least 70 cubic meters of wastewater daily.

The city council has granted Mayor Rodolfo Gantuangco an authority to enter into a loan agreement with the Development of the Philippines (DBP) for the project.

Kidapawan is only one of the many local government units receiving assistance in urban environmental management through the EcoGov Part 2 project.

The project, which is an initiative of the Philippine government, is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and implemented in partnership with the Department of Interior and Local Governments (DILG) and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. It is managed by the Development Alternatives Inc., (DAI).

DAI is providing technical assistance to the city governments of General Santos, Koronadal, and Davao and of the provinces of South Cotabato, Sarangani, North Cotabato, and Sultan Kudarat in implementing forest and forestlands management, coastal resource management, and urban environmental management. (MindaNews)

http://www.mindanews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3298&Itemid=106

ofw_cebu

November 19th, 2007, 06:00 PM

that is good news for kidapawan folks......

Maxxclip

November 20th, 2007, 09:25 AM

Malala na ba ang problema o kaya pa?

GearX

November 20th, 2007, 11:01 AM

ay first reply.....kaya pa...kaya pa nating lumangoy....:lol:

amigo32

November 20th, 2007, 11:32 AM

hehehe.

meron bang drainage sytem ang pinas? naalala ko tuloy si Claire Danes ba yun?

Ex!lE

November 20th, 2007, 11:42 AM

ay first reply.....kaya pa...kaya pa nating lumangoy....:lol:

pano ang di marunong lumangoy? :lol:

kiretoce

November 20th, 2007, 01:45 PM

:shocked: Really!? They have those in the Philippines? :lol:

dinabaw

November 20th, 2007, 01:52 PM

^^ what kimber? anyway forget drainage systems it's global warming anyway ...lol

ofw_cebu

November 20th, 2007, 08:36 PM

Philippine Star

RP’s first waste-to-methane power plant to be launched in Rizal town

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

The country’s first garbage-to-methane power plant that can produce about 15 megawatts will be launched in E. Rodriguez (formerly Montalban), Rizal next month.

Bobby de Ocampo, chairman of the British Alumni Association, said the Montalban Methane Power Corp. has the United Kingdom as its largest investor.

“The investment, while relatively small for starters, will end up with a facility that will be the largest in Asia and the second (largest) worldwide,” De Ocampo told reporters during a recent briefing.

He said the total project cost would amount to $30 million.

“The raw materials are from the old dump. I think why it was given priority (over other existing dumps in the country) is because of the volume of garbage that happens to be there. I think the potential is 10 million tons,” he added.

“(The power plant) will convert garbage in the main dump of Metro Manila into methane and utilize it for electricity,” he said.

De Ocampo clarified that the controversy surrounding the planned shutdown of the E. Rodriguez dump to pave the way for the opening of a new one would not derail the project.

“While many of you are aware of the political calisthenics over there, there is no politics that has to do with garbage,” he said.

De Ocampo said the whole project, set for launch on Dec. 5, is intended not just to promote alternative sources of energy but also to foster “community building to raise the level of livelihood and give people there a better community facility.”

“If it is utilized as a continuing dump for Metro Manila, to some extent, you’ve got many years of garbage to work with,” he said.

De Ocampo’s group is composed of some 200 Filipinos who have studied in schools in the UK.

The British Alumni Association is currently helping the British Embassy, the British Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines and the British Council in this year’s celebration of Philippine-British Friendship Week from Nov. 30 to Dec. 9.

De Ocampo said the methane power plant is part of the UK’s interest in helping the Philippines reduce its dependence on conventional sources of energy.

In fact, a British expert on solid waste management is scheduled to hold a seminar on Dec. 4 as part of the Philippine-British Friendship Week.

“The UK is also looking at other waste materials that can also be converted. They are now discussing the possibility of utilizing bagasse for the purpose of converting it into methane,” De Ocampo said.

Leslie Stokes, chairman of the British Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines, said some British companies are also interested in investing in biofuels.

Stokes cited the importance of utilizing other possible sources of biofuels like sorghum and jatropha, saying the usual sources like sugarcane, corn and cassava are also used for human consumption and animal feeds.

“There are some areas we are looking at and there are some companies which are very interested. Some of the companies in Britain are actually using some of these agricultural products, a lot of which grow in the wild,” he said.

AH-7Raja

November 20th, 2007, 09:38 PM

Wow we're really catching up! :cheers:

le Reine

November 21st, 2007, 12:54 AM

may drainage system ba tayo? parang wala.

swahi

November 21st, 2007, 01:07 AM

oh, yun pala tawag nila sa mga underground system natin. I thought it was the underground garbage can system where you can sweep all your garbage with your trusty walis tingting.:nuts:

Maxxclip

November 21st, 2007, 01:12 AM

oh, yun pala tawag nila sa mga underground system natin. I thought it was the underground garbage can system where you can sweep all your garbage with your trusty walis tingting.:nuts:

:lol: "Underground Garbage Can"

sounds good to me:)

Naiinggit ako sa Japan, super laki at lawak ng drainage system nila, parang syudad sa ilalim ng lupa kalaki:D

swahi

November 21st, 2007, 01:18 AM

o yung mga drainage system that we see in tv, na kaya lakarin ng mga tao. Or how about that system they had in die hard the movie, where Bruce Willis was able to drive a full size dump truck into the system? Ours? Pang hot wheels toys lang yata ang kasya.

But really, aside from being undersized systems, and our lack of discipline in dumping our garbage, especially non biodegradable items like styro and plastic, our waste water facilities are non existent, and if they are, inadequate. Restaurants still use teeny weeny grease traps, and they use hot water to flush out their oils from their system. Once this oil drains further down the system and the hot water is not hot anymore, it settles, and become lard, and f*ck up the drainage system down the line.

Another model to look at is Singapore. Some of their drainage now flows into a common waste water system, where the water is recycled, capable of converting part of this into potable drinking water.

Maxxclip

November 21st, 2007, 01:29 AM

:ohno:Madami ng case study na tumatalakay sa lumulubhang problema sa drainage system natin. May nabasa nga ako na yung ibang drainage system natin dito sa manila e panahon pa ng mga kastila ginawa:ohno:

Ito dapat yung pinag-uukulan ng pansin ng mga senador at congressmen natin. -bahain pa naman tayo, siguro ito na rin ang solusyon sa CAMANAVA area. Our government already spent alot of money just for "ineffective" water pump' maintenance.

The Cebuano Exultor

November 21st, 2007, 03:48 AM

:lol: "Underground Garbage Can"

sounds good to me:)

Naiinggit ako sa Japan, super laki at lawak ng drainage system nila, parang syudad sa ilalim ng lupa kalaki:D

^^ O nga, nakita ko rin 'yun. Ang tawag sa system na 'yun ay Storm Water Drainage System (SWDS). Ang kanyang official name ay "The G-Cans Project." Dito sa South-East Asia, ang Malaysia palang ang meron nito. Pero 'yung nasa Tokyo ay ang pinaka-malaki sa buong mundo.

Just to give those who haven't heard of this project yet a scale-perspective of its size, each of those five "cans" are big enough to easily accomodate and hold a standing space shuttle with propulsion rocket.

It's pretty obvious that we can't have a project similar to this here in the Phiippines because it is too costly.

What we can do is to ban all use of plastic cellophanes in our country and re-introduce the use of paperbags.

pi_malejana

November 21st, 2007, 06:07 AM

kapag paperbags naman di kaya makalbo mga bundok natin pati baguio..? hehe...
drainage system ba e KANAL ang tawag diba? meron tayo nun eh, basurahan nga lang ang purpose...:)

GearX

November 21st, 2007, 08:41 AM

pano ang di marunong lumangoy? :lol:

magpa-anod na lang....

may drainage system ba tayo? parang wala.

more like aged drain system....:lol:

Maxxclip

November 21st, 2007, 09:42 AM

Tokyo ay ang pinaka-malaki sa buong mundo.

Just to give those who haven't heard of this project yet a scale-perspective of its size, each of those five "cans" are big enough to easily accomodate and hold a standing space shuttle with propulsion rocket.

This is what I' am talking about. I saw this on TV - National Geographic ata yun:). Napahanga(admired) lang ako at napamangha(amazed) sa nakita ko. Sa tingin ko, hindi lugi ang gobyerno natin kung magkakaroon tayo ng ganitong proyekto - kesa naman yung mga provisional projects na kumakain lang ng malaking pera pero hindi napapakinabangan ng taong bayan (at sa halip e pinagka-kwartahan) like yung sa CAMANAVA Flood Control Project na ineffective:ohno:.

amigo32

November 21st, 2007, 10:23 AM

hindi pupuede sa Pinas yan, alam mo kung bakit, matutuwa ang mga eskwater at mas maganda tumira dyan.

richard24

November 21st, 2007, 11:08 AM

philippines' drainage system?!? is there such a thing?!? wala yan sa vocabulary ng mga pilipino. :lol:

SamwiseGamgee

November 21st, 2007, 11:42 AM

^^ Right. There's no such thing as a Philippine drainage system. There are only local drainage systems run and maintained by each local government or by metropolitan areas such as Metro Manila.

Let us admit, though that our drainage systems are not adequate and are not properly maintained.

However, ours in Iloilo is being upgraded at this time with the Iloilo Flood Control Project, which will build a floodway, rechannel and clean up existing creeks and rivers, and build new culverts and bridges among others.

Thanks to our government.

dinabaw

November 21st, 2007, 01:50 PM

eto sa Davao patapos na ang Flood Control Project but still meron paring area na bahain , i agree dapat ang storm drainange parang tunnel ang laki !

Urban Drainage and Flood Control Project

http://img451.imageshack.us/img451/3927/reco0403ez7.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/5130/reco0304sp7.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img451.imageshack.us/img451/1121/reco0307tu2.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/3740/reco0306ci2.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Maxxclip

November 22nd, 2007, 01:14 AM

hindi pupuede sa Pinas yan, alam mo kung bakit, matutuwa ang mga eskwater at mas maganda tumira dyan.

:lol: Gusto ko nga dun sila tumira then kapag binuksan yung depository, sama-sama silang maaanod at malulunod...:devil: wahahahahah

Maxxclip

November 22nd, 2007, 01:17 AM

thomasian

November 22nd, 2007, 01:55 AM

...eto ang headquarters ng mga daga natin na halos kasing laki na ng pusa at mas marami pa sa populasyon ng mga tao. Lumalabas sila hindi lang pag gabi, kahit umaga, minsan tumatawid pa nga sa kalye, lalabas from one drainage hole to another, sa laki nila, hindi na sila pinapansin ng mga pusa...

Maxxclip

November 22nd, 2007, 02:09 AM

^^and worst... hindi lang gumagala, kumakain na rin sila ng tao(especially yung mga newborn baby):ohno:

bariQ

November 22nd, 2007, 03:35 AM

meron nman tayong drainage system ah....

marami namang canal at estero sa manila

Maxxclip

November 22nd, 2007, 04:12 AM

GearX

November 22nd, 2007, 05:11 AM

dreamtime07

November 22nd, 2007, 05:16 AM

oo, marami tayong drainage system na hindi kayang i-handle ang tubig baha:) kaya nagbabaha pa rin. what we need is a new drainage system that would take all the water(inundation) allover metro manila - nalulugi kase ang mga estudyante natin, konting ulan -wala agad pasok:D

The problem with metro Manila drainage system is not primarily because of capacity. The only lacking in the Metro Manila drainage system is the hydraulic analysis in which most world cities do before they put their drainage systems.

Also, in Metro Manila, waste water and storm water are going in the same system and ends up in bodies of water like Pasig River. It is unlike in Tokyo where they have two systems for waste water and storm water. We cannot afford to have both because it is very expensive.

Moreover, in other countries, they really do hydraulic analysis before doing anything unlike here. I believe the reason is lack of money or the lack of professionals to do hydraulic analysis.

Maxxclip

November 22nd, 2007, 05:22 AM

^^:)wala talagang pera kase naipamigay na. nakalagay pa nga sa mga 'paper bag':D - na parang doggie bag:D

dinabaw

November 22nd, 2007, 05:29 AM

well another problem of MM is it's below sea level and of course the overpopulated(and still rising) cities which the sewer/drainage system cannot cope .

Maxxclip

November 22nd, 2007, 05:39 AM

:)that's right, we're in the stage of "rising", so I hope na yung mga nagpo-pop up na mga 'sub cities' ay may maayos na drainage system:) tama yun sinabi ni @dreamtime07 na dapat meron tayong separate drainage for waste and flood system like Sustainable Drainage Systems o SuDS.

bustero

November 22nd, 2007, 09:32 AM

Perhaps we should qualify what part of Pinas has a drainage or flooding issue. Even in MM only some parts have issues. The higher portions di masyado. We must remember that in a monsoon country the intensity is quite high, higher than most so our drainage capacities are larger than most countries. Also many times it's not properyly done and more probably barada sa basura!

Maxxclip

November 22nd, 2007, 09:43 AM

^^:)Good idea. Actually madami na ngayon ang mga lugar na binabaha na dati e hindi naman - sa halip na ma-lessen e nag-i-increase pa:) Sa MM, almost everywhere, lalo pa nga'ng lumalala at lumalawak pa ang mga affected area:ohno:. Dapat magkaroon ng summit ang mga city mayors o governors kung pano nila masosolusyunan ito. Hindi lang kase puwerhisyo (abala) at baha ang naidudulot ng mga clogged drainage natin, nagiging sanhi din ito ng iba't-ibang sakit.

dinabaw

November 22nd, 2007, 10:53 AM

thomasian

November 22nd, 2007, 12:12 PM

The bigger problem right now it not just the inadequacy of drainage systems but the trash that clogs them. The drainage system's already limited capacity is further decreased by heaps of waste thrown into them, clogging them further. I don't know why a lot of Filipinos, especially those informal settlers (notice how their places are always dirty?) living near or along the banks of our rivers and esteros are fond of throwing their garbage everywhere, and most of the time in the river itself. :nono:

bariQ

November 22nd, 2007, 10:45 PM

jgacis

November 23rd, 2007, 12:08 AM

:ohno:The bigger problem right now it not just the inadequacy of drainage systems but the trash that clogs them. The drainage system's already limited capacity is further decreased by heaps of waste thrown into them, clogging them further. I don't know why a lot of Filipinos, especially those informal settlers (notice how their places are always dirty?) living near or along the banks of our rivers and esteros are fond of throwing their garbage everywhere, and most of the time in the river itself. :nono:

I totally agree.

Some filipinos need to learn better habits, especially informal settlers.

Maybe they just don't care because of their living conditions.... :ohno:

le Reine

November 23rd, 2007, 12:35 AM

onga no? meron bang ganyan? league of MM mayors? sana meron. makakatulong talaga yan.
asa pa. yun na lang masasabi ko. may MMDA pero parang wala lang.

:ohno:

I totally agree.

Some filipinos need to learn better habits, especially informal settlers.

Maybe they just don't care because of their living conditions.... :ohno:

well, that's why they are being demolished.

Maxxclip

November 23rd, 2007, 01:18 AM

onga no? meron bang ganyan? league of MM mayors? sana meron. makakatulong talaga yan.

:)yes, i think it was LCP( League of Cities of the Philippines ).

dinabaw

November 23rd, 2007, 04:31 AM

Ricochet By Rene Ezpeleta Bartolo
The International Year of Sanitation

“The sanitation crisis is an insult to humanity.” ( Jon Lane , Executive Director, Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council, WSSCI)

The United Nations has declared 2008 as the International Year of Sanitation.

In its brochure predicating the launch, the UN underlined these facts:

The excreta of 2.6 billion people is uncollected/untreated and represents a global health crisis.

More than 200 million tons of human waste (and untold millions of tons of waste water and solid waste) go uncollected and untreated annually around the world – in parts of both developing and developed countries.

This exposes millions of people to disease and death and a continuing cycle of poverty.

More than 2.6 billion people, including 980 million children, live without proper sanitation. Every 20 seconds a child dies as a direct result. That’s 1.5 million preventable child deaths a year;

At any one time, more than half the developing world’s poor are ill from causes related to hygiene, sanitation and water supply.

Diarrhea, which results directly from poor sanitation, unhygienic environment, and contaminated water supply, is the second biggest killer of children under five.

Not having a clean, private place to defecate and urinate means using plastic bags, fields, roadsides, or riverbanks.

In Geneva , on November 20, the Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCI), announced the launching of its own advocacy program in support of the IYS.

It may just be another year for some among the may “Year of’s…” declared by the world boby, but it can be a turning point for hundreds of millions of residents of Planet Earth.

“But IYS should be more than just a political device to attract the maximum attention to sanitation,” wrote the WSSCI in a statement issued yesterday. “It must bring people around the world to care, and their government officials to act.”

WSSCC said it is “dedicating the vast majority of its energy and resources to sanitation and intends to play a very active part in making the IYS successful.”

Sanitation is achievable if people care and governments act.

Sanitation is not about pity for the world’s unserved poor.

Beyond its crucial contributions to human health, to social dignity, development and the environment, the economic benefits sanitation generates can be a catalyst for development.

It is not only a target of one of the eight Millennium Development Goals. It is a crucial factor which, if missed, will lead to the failure of most of them.

WSSCI’s WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) program will be in the forefront of the advocacy campaign to push the International Year of Sanitation.

With slogans such as “Millions of women have to do it with an audience” or “Hurry up! 2.6 billion people want to use the toilet”, the new WASH campaign aims at reaching out to government officials responsible for sanitation at global and at country levels.

The UN believes proper sanitation and hygiene is a necessary and worthwhile investment for governments at every level in every country.

For every dollar spent improving sanitation and hygiene, between $3 and $34 is saved in health, education and social and economic development.

In addition to countless school days lost to sanitation-related illness, the lack of adequate, separate sanitation facilities denies many girls an education and future economic potential.

Achieving adequate sanitation worldwide is doable.

In Davao City , we can do our share to address this sanitation crisis.

dinabaw

November 23rd, 2007, 04:32 AM

renell

November 23rd, 2007, 04:48 AM

:shocked: Really!? They have those in the Philippines? :lol:

hahaha kiretoce, mate you took those words out of my... keyboard:D

every year in the Philippines should be a year of sanitation.

I believe we DO have drainage systems, but they've not very good. Getting it fixed doesn't seem to be much, it's just hollow concrete cylinders underneath out roads. I would've thought it's much more than that.

But our drainage can't bear all the faults. Let's be honest, we can fix it all we want but if we keep on testing how much rubbish it can handle, surely it will fail. how about some local garbage dumps that can bear local rubbish. Often they overflow.

pi_malejana

November 23rd, 2007, 07:03 AM

KulasKusgan

November 23rd, 2007, 01:50 PM

here is another solution Davao uses this Vector Truck to syphone and de clogged drainages/sewers and get rid of "mano-mano" work which is so tedious and time consuming.

http://img250.imageshack.us/img250/4550/reco0167mb8.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

heres vactor2000 at damosa, davao city

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k251/sscdavao/underconstruction/IMG_0066.jpg

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k251/sscdavao/underconstruction/IMG_0067.jpg

dinabaw

November 23rd, 2007, 02:02 PM

^^ ah vactor diay kulas hehehe

KulasKusgan

November 23rd, 2007, 02:05 PM

^^ oi kinsa na si vector? vector sa pbb? haha

renell

November 23rd, 2007, 04:12 PM

ngayon ko lang nalaman na below sea level ang MM.. is London just like MM--both below sea level..?
para sa'n ba ung mga ginagawang excavation ng MAYNILAD, is it just for the water supply?
anyway, ang ganda ng system sa DAVAO..:banana:

baka mga ibang lugar sa MM, i don't think lahat ng MM ay below-sea level. the most obvious areas are Malabon and Navotas. Of course areas of Manila binabaha din pero ang situasyon pinahihirap ng basura natin naiiwan sa drainage system.

so what does Davao have/don't have, infrastructure wise, that Metro Manila doesn't?

jgacis

November 24th, 2007, 12:01 AM

XP - well, that's why they are being demolished.

That won't stop them from acting irresponsible in other areas. But demolishing their unsafe/unhealthy homes is a start.

ofw_cebu

November 28th, 2007, 09:45 PM

Philippine Star
Thursday, November 29, 2007

The Cebu City government yesterday launched the 100k-W Resource Recovery Facility at the Inayawan Sanitary Landfill with the aim to produce electricity for locators at the South Road Properties.

This developed as Mayor Tomas Osmeña announced that in a few weeks, the city will be signing in SRP locators “in a magnitude that will take care of the city’s financial constraints.”

Osmeña said the ReSTORETM, which would convert the landfill into a waste-to-energy treatment facility, is certainly an added boost to SRP investors, as it would eventually lower down the cost of their electricity with the subsequent launch of the power plant.

With an estimated cost of P500 million, the project will generate 10 megawatts of power, which is equivalent to 10 percent of the projected power requirement of the future locators at the SRP.

Osmeña earlier said the power produced by the landfill would be sold to SRP at 20 percent lower than the rates offered by the National Power Corporation.

Aside from this, Osmeña said with the help of the Inayawan power plant, the city would subsequently introduce “district cooling” at the SRP, a waster-to-energy air-conditioning system through an absorption process that would enable electricity consumed by air-conditioning units to be cut off by up to 80 to 85 percent. This would allow the companies to save up to 40 percent of a general rental price in an office space.

The same air-conditioning system would also be implemented for the City Hall Legislative Building. The city has awarded the project to Philippine Bi-Sciences Co. Inc., the contractor of the Inayawan power plant.

“This is a proof of concept that you can produce energy from waste...this makes the area more competitive and attractive. We are ready to compete and we have the players to support us,” the mayor said. - Joeberth M. Ocao/LPM

leechtat

November 30th, 2007, 03:10 AM

dagpusa.. dagang kasing laki ng pusa... yan ang mga nakatira sa drainage system natin... meron pa.. hordes of ipis...

mahirap rin kc gumawa ng drainage system sa metro.. like manila, old city that is hard to rehabilitate.. also, lack of funds... kadiri rin talaga na ang sewage sys and flood sys ay magkasama... im glad that new cities are taking on the challenge.. like many township developments in the pipeline i.e. nuvali..

dinabaw

November 30th, 2007, 10:34 AM

^^ very nice!!! i hope we can develop that kind of facility ..for now we can just extract methane
from the landfill.

more on Davao Landfill facility

http://img518.imageshack.us/img518/3889/landfillyv9.png (http://imageshack.us)

good condition equipments
http://img116.imageshack.us/img116/9324/67252765un3.png (http://imageshack.us)

gas pipes for methane
http://img255.imageshack.us/img255/6799/landfill5cf5.png (http://imageshack.us)

lechate pipes
http://img116.imageshack.us/img116/1733/landfill3oz5.png (http://imageshack.us)

http://img267.imageshack.us/img267/2425/landfill6iu9.png (http://imageshack.us)

http://img267.imageshack.us/img267/109/20753193346da777260arc9.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

they call this vetiverer grasses to be put on the slopes of the landfill dunno the purpose of planting this grasses , maybe protection for erosion or this grasses consume unwanted degradable wastes, i have no idea.

dinabaw

November 30th, 2007, 01:59 PM

^^ oi kinsa na si vector? vector sa pbb? haha

hehe mali gihapon ka kulas Vactor 2100 ..umm basig mas dako ang capacity ani :)

http://img227.imageshack.us/img227/9259/reco0168pj0.jpg

waste water being drain , the solid waste materials (biodegradable & non- biodegradable) remain inside the tank which will be dispose in the sanitary landfill .

http://img504.imageshack.us/img504/3208/reco0176pf8.jpg

vactor w/ Davao City seal

http://img267.imageshack.us/img267/6781/reco0177rc0.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

leechtat

December 1st, 2007, 02:48 AM

wow... we should really prioritize on cleaning our S*hit... waste management and disposal should be one of our most advanced technology, since we always produce s*hit everyday...

kiretoce

December 28th, 2007, 11:09 PM

Garbage piles up in parts of Metro; MMDA allays fears of crisis (http://www.gmanews.tv/story/74429/Garbage-piles-up-in-parts-of-Metro-MMDA-allays-fears-of-crisis)

Despite authorities' repeated assurances, garbage problems are starting to pile up in parts of Metro Manila following the Christmas celebrations, raising concerns over a garbage crisis as the New Year celebration nears.

Radio dzBB reported Friday that mounds of garbage have been left uncollected in several areas in the metropolis, including areas in Pasay City leading to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport and Manila Domestic Airport.

The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) admitted it is currently facing a problem in its garbage collection program, although he described the problem as “minor" and assured that this should not hamper garbage collection in the Metro.

MMDA chairman Bayani Fernando said legal problems are hounding its garbage collection efforts, saying the agency had asked the court to determine which party should it pay for receiving Metro Manila’s garbage.

"Hindi natin malaman ngayon sino babayaran namin. (Pero) tuloy ang pagtatapon natin. Ang (problema) nga lang, saan kami magbabayad ililinaw lang namin sa korte (We want to make clear to whom we will pay for dumping Metro Manila's garbage. But our dumping will continue during the holidays. We just asked a court to clarify the matter),"
he said.

Fernando said the MMDA had been paying the local government of Rodriguez (formerly Montalban) town in Rizal for using its dumpsite to accommodate Metro Manila's garbage.

But the Rodriguez local government figured in a legal tussle with the Rizal provincial government some months back over who controls the landfill.

He also said both local governments "understood" the situation of Metro Manila.

"Sa pagtapon walang problema. Tuloy-tuloy naman at nauunawaan nila. Ang pangangailangan huwag maantala o huwag matigil ang pagtatapon (We won't have a problem with dumping garbage. It will not be hampered because of the legal issue, and they understand our situation. They agreed not to hamper the collection and dumping)," he said.

kiretoce

March 31st, 2008, 02:15 AM

"Waste not, want not" takes on new meaning (http://business.inquirer.net/money/features/view/20080329-127115/Waste-not-want-not-takes-on-new-meaning)

Filipinos were just starting to learn their 3Rs—reuse, reduce, and recycle—when the Ayala group initiated its waste segregation program in 1996.

At that time, Ayala Center Association Inc. and Ayala Foundation were just concerned about collecting the used Styrofoam packaging and plastics of big fast-food chains—such as Jollibee, McDonald’s and Wendy’s—in cooperation with the Polystyrene Packaging Council of the Philippines.

But the Ayala commercial center group’s program to lessen garbage thrown into Manila’s dumps took a life of its own and, after 12 years, the Ayala group’s Solid Waste Management Program now covers recycling of practically all the waste matter produced by the Ayala malls.

Junk entrepreneurs

From fast-food chains, the recycling program has expanded to include all of the food waste, paper and cartons turned out by merchants and tenants of the commercial centers.

Not only has the solid waste management program allowed the Ayala commercial center group to reduce its waste from 16 trucks of garbage a day in 1996 to only four to seven trucks today, it has also given birth to entrepreneurs who earn from the sale of recyclable waste.

Wenceslao Cruz Jr., general manager of the Ayala Center Association, told the Inquirer in an interview that the group initially reached out to scavengers who sorted through garbage dumps in search of junk they could sell.

“Whatever we collected, we gave it for them to sell,” Cruz said. “We also organized them to help us in sorting through the waste.”

Today, the group has partnered with a number of small and medium-scale enterprises who profit from the waste, such as Remegio Calixto of Cavite province, who became the official food waste collector, and Avella Lipata of Jaram Hauling Services, who takes care of the bulk of the solid waste management operations.

The solid waste management program took a decisive turn in 1999 when the association decided to no longer accept non-segregated waste from the tenants, just to drive home the point that the group was serious about maximizing the program’s benefits.

P200,000 a month

Segregation at the source is important to the success of the program because the tenants no longer have to deliver as much waste to the designated dumps, Cruz said. The tenants also learn to cash in on their recyclable waste, such as paper, newspapers, cartons, magazines, books, and packaging materials, he added.

In 2002, the Ayala group set up materials recovery facilities, or MRF, at the Glorietta and Greenbelt mall complexes to make it more efficient for outside contractors to sort through the waste for items that could still be sold to junk shops and waste recycling companies.

The MRF at the Glorietta is for the Glorietta merchants, while the one at the basement of Greenbelt 3 is for Greenbelt merchants.

It is in these MRFs where the waste from the tenants is housed for further segregation. Waste goes through three levels of segregation before these are finally hauled out of the center in trucks to the city dump.

“One of our contractors earn as much as P200,000 a month from the plastic recovered at the third level of segregation,” Cruz said, “what more for those who segregate at the source.”

Cruz was happy to report that the recycling fever has even spread to other mall operators, such as SM, which is also a tenant in the Ayala commercial center.

Then it got the public to join in the recycling program through the monthly “Waste Market” day, which started in September 2006.

Waste market

On Waste Market day, the public is encouraged to bring nontraditional recyclables, such as junk electronics, used batteries, compact discs, digital video discs and empty ink cartridges, even old cellular phones, for sale to partner junk shops.

They earn from their waste and they are also made aware of their contribution to protecting the environment.

A year after the waste market day was launched at the Goldcrest car park in Glorietta, the waste market has recovered 67 tons and 10,368 pieces of recyclable materials from individuals and institutions worth a combined P 700,000.

The waste market is now held in other Ayala malls, such as the Paseo de Magallanes in Makati City, the Bonifacio Global City in Taguig City, Alabang Town Center in Muntinlupa City and TriNoma in Quezon City.

odyssey

April 5th, 2008, 09:57 PM

More waste-water facilities here sought
http://www.mb.com.ph/BSNS20080406121169.html

The Philippines should pursue investments in centralized wastewater treatment infrastructure to sustain their watershed and economic resources.

It is unfortunate that even less economically advanced countries like North Korea and Vietnam have been advancing their waste-water treatment infrastructure, leaving the Philippines behind in this effort toward environmental and ultimately, economic sustainability.

Developed countries like the United States and Japan have long incorporated their plans for waste-water treatment infrastructure into city planning. This centralized infrastructure is more economical due to "cost-sharing" than setting up individual treatment plans.

In China, there are waste water treatment infrastructures in the works that have a capacity of a big 200,000 cubic meters (cu.m.) per day. Plants being constructed in the country have a capacity ranging only from 500 to 1,000 cu.m. and mostly only for private companies.

"There are many countries that are equal the Philippines’ economic status or even poorer like North Korea. But they have been working on centralized treatment plants to make their watersheds sustainable," said Engr. Andrew T. Montalbo, Ecosystem Technologies Inc. (ESTI) managing director at a World Water Day forum.

Large waste water treatment infrastructures are pivotal to keeping waters flowing from rivers and watersheds.

"We should go for big centralized treatment plants in cities because this will have a greater impact on recharging rivers and groundwater," he said.

While it may seem costly to build centralized plants, Montalbo said there are already drainage facilities (used for catching rainwater to avoid flooding) buried down the country’s roads nationwide. These can be simply tapped to collect waste water and channel them to a treatment plant.

With a plant that treats waste water from all houses and industrial plants in a certain area through a "combined system," cost of infrastructure can be minimized.

"It’s not an excuse that these facilities are expensive. We might just do it now because we’ll be faced with worse problems 50 years from now. And if people see there’s development, it won’t be hard for them to be convinced to pay up for it considering lesser costs from a combined system," he said.

It is lamentable that even at lower water quality discharge standard of a maximum of 50 milligrams per liter (mg/L) of biological oxygen demand (BOD), Metro Manila can hardly cope with this standard.

In Japan, BOD standard for water discharge is at 15 BOD while this is at 20 to 30 in the US, he said.

Along with ecology-related advantages, existing waste water treatment technologies produce tremendous cost-savings since treated water can be reused (for toilet flushing, watering gardens, cooling towers).

Sequence batch reactor (SBR) has also proven to cut electricity consumption from one kilowatt-hour (kwh) per cu.m. of water treated from 2-2.5 kwh per cu.m. in old technologies.

The Philippines, according to former Department of Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Elisea Gozun, has lagged behind Bangladesh’s capital, Dhaka, and Nepal’s capital, Kathmandu, in waste water treatment infrastructure.

A World Bank study indicated that Dhaka’s sewage (water-borne human or animal waste) connection to a treatment plant is at 20 percent and that of Kathmandu—perceived to be situated in a rural valley—is at 30 percent.

These are far higher than Metro Manila’s extremely low seven percent connection to waste water treatment facilities which makes it just second lowest to Indonesia in sewage connection.

"The country is not investing in sewage treatment. It’s about time we face the painful truth that we can’t have 84 million Filipinos growing at a rate of 2.3 percent without it," said Gozun.

spearhead

April 7th, 2008, 04:51 AM

What happened to this planned Recycling plants in the pilippines? Any follow ups? Thanks!

http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Bach-Hauser+May+Have+Intro+Into+the+Philippines%3B+Letters+of+Intent...-a057765928
NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 23, 1999--

BHAS - Broken Hill Associated Smelters Pty Limited (Australia)) announced today that it has signed letters of intent to build the first Total Recycling System(R) plants in the Philippines. Bach-Hauser's solid waste processing plants are expected to help to alleviate many of the problems caused by rapidly expanding landfills in the cities of Calamba, Batangas Batangas (bätän`gäs), city (1990 pop. 184,970), capital of Batangas prov., SW Luzon, the Philippines. An important port on the Calumpan River near its mouth on Batangas Bay, it has a large oil refinery and serves a fertile farm area noted for its fruits, cacao, and coffee. City and Cabanatwan City.

Bach-Hauser will design and implement recycling plants in the three Philippine cities utilizing the Total Recycling System(R). The yet-to-be-built plants will have the ability to reduce solid waste in the Philippine cities' landfills by as much as 80 percent.

These letters of intent are a direct result of the marketing efforts of Bach-Hauser's international marketing firm, Solutek Trade. "Solutek Trade was instrumental in acquiring the three letters of intent for Bach-Hauser in the Philippines through their extensive network of contacts with top decision makers throughout the Philippines," says Peter Preston, Vice President of International Sales. "In a matter of a few weeks, Solutek has initiated the signing of three letters of intent and an invitation from the Southern Philippines Development Authority to develop further interior improvement projects."

"The Total Recycling System can help the worsening landfill situation in the Philippines, which is a byproduct of the country's sharp rise in the metropolitan population. The Philippine representatives were impressed with the our ability to divert landfill waste, as well as the plants' ability to create an economic impact through new jobs associated with the plants and their recycled products," adds Preston

Bach-Hauser's recycling methods solve many of the most serious problems commonly associated with waste management. The company's proprietary Total Recycling System(R) can help alleviate the growing waste problems in landfills by nearly 100% of common recyclable products. They can also convert the majority of the rest of the garbage they receive into organic compost, rather than sending it to landfills. The compost can then be resold to local gardeners and agricultural users to improve the area's soil.

There is a growing need for environmentally responsible solutions to waste disposal. In the U.S., government mandates to handle waste in a more responsible and efficient manner have created a $70 billion North America environmental industry. Waste Management Inc. (NYSE:WMI) alone has over a $13 billion market capitalization. Internationally, the market potential is probably even greater.

The statements made by Bach-Hauser Inc. (Bach-Hauser) may be forward-looking in nature. Actual results may differ materially from those projected in forward-looking statements. Bach-Hauser believes that its primary risk factors include, but are not limited to: the need for substantial financial requirements; the need to develop effective internal processes and systems; changes in the overall economy; changes in technology; the number and size of competitors in its markets; continued and future strategic alliances; changes in the law and regulatory policy; and the mix of product and services offered in Bach-Hauser's target markets. Merger Communications (Merger) is a media relations firm employed by Bach-Hauser. The statements and opinions presented here represent the views of Bach-Hauser, not Merger, as the release is based on information provided by Bach-Hauser. Merger's compensation for its media relations services, including preparation of press releases, consists of a monthly retainer and stock. Merger and its employees may have a long position in the securities of the companies in which it distributes information to the media, and Merger may be buying or selling securities in the course of its regular business.

red_jasper

April 20th, 2008, 04:45 AM

Mayor considers plasma option

Cebu Daily News
First Posted 08:02:00 04/20/2008

After spending at least P56 million in 2005 for 8,000 imported garbage bins, the Mandaue City government is planning to use plasma technology in incinerating the city's 400 tons of garbage a day.

Mayor Jonas Cortes said he was considering the option to use high-tech plasma technology in disposing of tons of garbage at the city's landfill.

Cortes told Environment Assistant Secretary Gerry Calderon of the city's plan during Calderon's visit to the city on Monday.

Cortes said plasma technology is an environment-friendly technology with by-products of electricity and fertilizer.

He cited Beijing, China; Jacksonville, Florida; and US military bases in different countries as among those who use the technology.

The technology however has one drawback – its price. Starting operations using the technology will cost at least $500 million or at least P20.5 billion.

Read more here (http://globalnation.inquirer.net/cebudailynews/news/view/20080420-131542/Mayor-considers-plasma-option)

jrevalde

April 20th, 2008, 05:05 AM

^^just read the article in its entirety. so they are planning to have a BOT setup with Quantum pala, hope it pushes through! but my god is it expensive, it costs as much as the proposed LRT system in cebu

red_jasper

May 7th, 2008, 12:37 PM

Green group lauds govt move to shut down open dumpsites
05/07/2008 | 04:41 PM

MANILA, Philippines - A waste and pollution watchdog lauded the environment department’s “long overdue directive to shut down all open dumpsites." However, it also warned that the move should not turn the Philippines into an open country for quick technological fixes that can further harm the people and the environment.

“The closure order is long overdue. We’ve heard that before from other bureaucrats and politicians. What we want to see is real action, and we’ll only start believing [Department of Environment and Natural Resources] Secretary Lito Atienza if we see parallel policies and investments in real solutions to the waste crisis," said Romy Hidalgo, Secretary of the EcoWaste Coalition and concurrent coordinator of the group’s Task Force on Dumps/Landfills.

“It’s a good sound bite," commented film actor Roy Alvarez, Vice-President of the EcoWaste Coalition, adding that “the closure order must be in black and white in the form of a Department Administrative Order, not a press release, that will also direct all local government units to enforce a self-reliant plan for ecological solid waste management towards the envisioned Zero Waste goal."

According to the coalition, the ecological solid waste management plan should lay emphasis on community education and implementation of proactive waste prevention, reduction, segregation at source, recycling and composting through the establishment of people-driven ecology centers or materials recovery facilities (MRFs) and not rely on financially and environmentally costly “sanitary" landfills or “waste-to-energy" incinerators.

The EcoWaste Coalition expressed grave concern about the tendency of some government officials and personnel to equate dump closure with the setting up of landfills, or “glorified dumps," and repackaged waste burners, asserting that R.A. 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000 calls for the adoption of best practices in line with ecologically sustainable development principles, excluding incineration.

From the perspective of public health, the environment and the economy, neither landfills nor incinerators provide ecological, socially just and sustainable solutions to the country’s garbage woes, the EcoWaste Coalition stated.

“Instead of putting their energy on finding communities that can be sacrificed to bear the brunt of our wasteful consumption, we believe that the LGUs and the National Solid Waste Management Commission should focus on holistic waste prevention, minimization and recovery policies and programs, including the adoption of clean methodologies for addressing the residuals that will not release harmful environmental pollutants such as dioxins and furans," the EcoWaste Coalition said.

The EcoWaste Coalition further called on Secretary Atienza and the local government executives to ensure alternative livelihood for the informal recyclers such as the waste pickers who undertake the very dirty and hazardous job of foraging the dumps for recyclable materials that can be sold.

“We stand for the integration of the waste pickers in the LGUs’ ecological waste management systems. They should be the first priority in the hiring, so as to afford them with humane employment that will provide them with basic health and social security," the group said. - GMANews.TV (http://www.gmanews.tv/story/93816/Green-group-lauds-govt-move-to-shut-down-open-dumpsites)

dinabaw

May 7th, 2008, 01:31 PM

Davao City Targets 70% Reduction in Solid Wastes

May 6th, 2008 at 1:23 am (General, Environment, Davao City)

As a city known for landmark legislations for environmental protection, Davao City is now aiming to reduce its solid wastes by 70%
. The proposal of the executive department, represented by the City Environmental and Natural Resources Office (CENRO) is now awaiting the approval of the City Council.

The proposal aims to explore all means to re-use, recycle, and compost approximately 75% of the waste materials in the city. Only 20% of the city’s wastes are residuals which are non-biodegradable wastes that cannot be recycled, reused, or composted anymore.

CENRO’s plan spans at least 10 years, and in my opinion, effects will not be felt or seen right away. I haven’t read the plan yet, but I hope there’s a component for educating Davaoeños on how proper solid waste management can be done right in their homes, and how important it is in preserving our environment.

Together with the ban on aerial spraying, the regulation of smoking areas, and the pending watershed code, the reduction of solid wastes in the city will contribute a lot with the city’s aim of sustainable development.

News Source: Sunstar Davao

http://politics.alleba.com/2008/05/06/davao-city-targets-70-reduction-in-solid-wastes/

pi_malejana

May 27th, 2008, 08:15 AM

Philpost is a government-owned and operated corporation that's over 100 years old (Aguinaldo ordered an establishment of postal system). However, criticisms surround Philpost because of theft, slow delivery, etc, so people are using couriers instead to do the job.

What can you say about our mailing system in the Philippines???:cheers:

Maxxclip

May 27th, 2008, 08:20 AM

^^ di na uso yan.... uso na ngayon e text

pi_malejana

May 27th, 2008, 08:23 AM

^^ actually, i watched a report from jessica soho, something about snail mail and it highlighted the ability (err, inability) of our postal system to deliver mail around the philippines "effectively"..:) they said they still handle tons of mails daily...

Maxxclip

May 27th, 2008, 08:25 AM

pano dadami e super bagal nila magdispatch ng mga sulat kaya ayan...natatambakan sila

pi_malejana

May 27th, 2008, 08:26 AM

^^ :lol:

Maxxclip

May 27th, 2008, 08:29 AM

^^snail mail nga

Askal82

May 27th, 2008, 01:20 PM

^^ di na uso yan.... uso na ngayon e text

I wish we can also send packages or balikbayan boxes through text as well. :lol:

Sometimes you wonder why your mail has not arrived if they even move at all. :lol:

sowerrichard

May 27th, 2008, 03:31 PM

IMHO PPC lugi na. Laki na cguro ng lugi ng gobyerno sa snail mail system.

kiretoce

May 27th, 2008, 03:54 PM

That's why I don't send anything. :lol:

absinthe_888

May 27th, 2008, 04:21 PM

imbestigador ba o xx yung magpalabas last sat ng kartero na inuuwi yung mga sulat sa bahay nya?

pi_malejana

May 28th, 2008, 03:25 AM

^^ anu naman kayang mapapala nya doon?? :ohno:

kc5169

May 28th, 2008, 11:54 AM

Never ever ever under no circumstances do you ever use the Philippine Post Office!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It should tell you something when the local utility company of all sorts send their own mail by use of a personally hired person who just drops each of the bills off. These companies know that you will never get your bill. Yes I have been scammed by these people, i have lost packages. Millions of people have lost their packages/mail, if you dont believe me it is posted all over the web.

I repeat:

Never ever ever under no circumstances do you ever use the Philippine Post Office!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

barrera_marquez

May 28th, 2008, 12:00 PM

Uso pa po ba snail mail? E kahit nga po lola ko nagpapadala na ng email ngayon... mas mahaba pa po sa mga messages na sarili kong gawa... to think she is 52... (even at 52?!)

Igsuonnimo

May 28th, 2008, 03:28 PM

^^ Sayang ang mga posting dito ng mga picture mula sa mga provinces, lalo na ang mga scenery, beaches, landscapes, environment at kung anu-anupa kung hindi mabubuhay ang PINAS Postal Corporation.

Isa sa mga paraan para kumita ang Pinas SSC forumers(SSC Pinoyforumeneurs --mula sa entrepreneurs) ay magamit ang kanilang talent sa photography at magamit na postcard(para ipadala sa mga mahal sa buhay, local/abroad).

:cheers2: :cheers: :cheers1: :cheers2: :cheers: :cheers1: :cheers2: :cheers: :cheers1: :cheers2: :cheers: :cheers1:

:banana: :cucumber: :banana: :cucumber: :banana: :cucumber: :banana: :cucumber: :banana: :cucumber: :banana: :cucumber: :banana: :cucumber: :banana: :cucumber:

:horse: :applause: :horse: :applause: :horse: :applause: :horse: :applause: :horse: :applause: :horse: :applause: :horse: :applause:

barrera_marquez

May 28th, 2008, 03:41 PM

spearhead

May 29th, 2008, 04:21 PM

Wala parin bang pera ang gobyerno para ma-modernized na yang postal services natin?

pi_malejana

May 29th, 2008, 10:06 PM

^^ i think it was in 2006 when NEDA and PGMA approved a BLT project in modernizing phil post, it was almost 5 billion php... don't know what happened...:(

Juan Pilgrim

May 30th, 2008, 06:14 PM

http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Plains/1466/piflag1.gif

Mabagal pa rin ang ating coreo sa Pilipinas.

My friend received only yesterday, a greeting card I sent him exactly 33 days ago. weeks late of the targeted date.

Meyron pang butas sa gilid, probably in an attempt to check whether there is money inside.

Kaya next time I will just send through JOHNNY AIR-- A FILIPINO COURIER AIR CARGO SERVICE here in my area. $7.50 PER pound. to Metro Manila.

http://www.psywarrior.com/PhilippineGPSStamp.jpg

:horse:
J.P.

kiretoce

May 30th, 2008, 06:35 PM

It's sad that we trust cargo/courier services more than the government postal service.

Nabartek

May 31st, 2008, 07:06 AM

Sana imonitor talaga nila yung mails. Kasi kapag nagmamail ako minsan, di nakakarating, di rin bumabalik sa akin. Ibig sabihin, ninakaw o nawala. Pasalamat nga sila na may gumagamit pa kahit papaano. Hehe

orangejuice

June 2nd, 2008, 02:59 PM

Napakabagal nga ng postal system natin. I live in Ireland, once in a while nagpapadala ako ng postcards sa parents ko, minsan natatanggap nila in 2 weeks, nahihimalaan pa ako kasi ung 2 weeks parang ang bilis na nun, minsan naman sabi nila pag natanggap nila, me nakatatak na " MISSENT " na dumaan pa sa Pasig district at Pateros district, eh di ko gets why my mail will end sa Pasig at Pateros when clearly nakalagay sa address ng parents ko PARANAQUE CITY! Problema ko nga lately me ipinadala akong NBI application form sa kanila na of course, me fingerprints ko, picture ko lahat lahat, grabe 5 weeks na nakalilipas, di pa nila natatanggap! Alam ko me fault din ako kasi dapat nga nag courier na lang ako, or dapat siguro niregister ko pero ginawa ko na registered mail dati, dumating ata 2 months after! Sana di nawala mail ko!

spearhead

June 2nd, 2008, 05:42 PM

This is what the philippines need, the Postal Automation System control machines and the modernization of its postal services (Napagiiwanan na tayo ng thailand):

http://www.accenture.com/Global/Services/By_Industry/Government_and_Public_Service/ThaiSystem.htm

Postal Automation
http://www.sri.com/esd/automation/postal.html

http://i.pbase.com/g4/57/305657/2/61356459.StreetsofBangkok055.jpg
Thai Post Box

Postal automation involves widely diverse technologies ranging from mechanical handling to opto-electronics, from inks and dyes to telecommunications, and from process design to customer interfaces. SRI International (SRI), an active technology developer and prototype supplier to the U.S. Postal Service (USPS), has available an equally broad range of expertise and in-house technologies in areas such as imaging, optical character recognition (OCR), artificial intelligence, computing architectures, electro-mechanical control, and design for manufacturability. SRI's projects for the United States Postal Service (USPS) span the full range of paper studies, architecture design, basic research, and system prototype development. These projects have given SRI a unique insight into postal automation problems. These web pages describe some of SRI's work on extracting information from scanned images of mail pieces

>Address Block Location
>Binarization
>Context-Based OCR
>Detection of Suspicious Mail via Handwriting Analysis
>Facing and Orienting Mail
>Image-Based Bar Code Reading
>Return-to-Sender Mail Processing
>Revenue Protection

Detection of Suspicious Mail via Handwriting Analysis

In response to the anthrax mailings of 2001, SRI quickly developed a prototype of a mail fingerprinting system. This system is based on SRI-developed algorithms that identify mail pieces with an address handwriting style similar to that of a known positive mail piece, using a semi-automatically generated decision tree. The degree of similarity is calculated from a set of specially designed address-block, line, and character features. SRI also developed novel algorithms for the robust computation of these features, even when the handwriting style is slanted, uneven, or inconsistent. When trained on one of the anthrax mail pieces and tested on 85,000 mail piece images, the software successfully identified the three known anthrax-carrying mail pieces and produced only three false positives. Figure 1 shows the detection process.

http://www.sri.com/esd/automation/postal/images/detect-fig1.gif

Like in canada and in other more civilized countries, once the philippines have implemented such postal automation system & services, they should also install some postal boxes conveniently around the cities in atleast at every city square blocks and inside the villages. Similar to the one below.

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/45/136561442_e370980685.jpg?v=0

Post Boxes from around the world (models):
http://www.pbase.com/richardfarmer/postboxes
http://i.pbase.com/g4/57/305657/2/61354167.April2006110.jpg

Since not all filipino households have a telephone or cellular phones access, i think its about time to implement the modernization of our postal services as soon as possible, afterall we still need to do the old fashion way and in cheaper way to send our birthday cards or anniversary cards and even any packages to our love ones in and outside the philippines.

So when are we gonna join the age of advance postal automation system & services?
:)

barrera_marquez

June 3rd, 2008, 01:35 AM

We are not behind Thailand, we are ahead of it! Kasi almost all mails ng Pilipinas e hindi na snail mail, email na...

Nabartek

June 3rd, 2008, 04:50 AM

Maxxclip

June 3rd, 2008, 07:58 AM

Philpost admin should really try to crack down on these thief employees

they should not allow this to happen:)

spearhead

June 3rd, 2008, 04:38 PM

We are not behind Thailand, we are ahead of it! Kasi almost all mails ng Pilipinas e hindi na snail mail, email na...

oh yeah? pati ba yung mga packages and cards ay ini-email narin...? :lol:

Juan Pilgrim

June 3rd, 2008, 10:37 PM

We need to revamp the Philippine Postal Service from the top to the bottom.

Until this problem of delays and thievery is solved we should use PHILIPPINE COURIER SERVICES.
http://tradelinkexpress.exportersindia.com/other-images/1809-1.jpg

:horse:
J.P.

Juan Pilgrim

June 3rd, 2008, 10:37 PM

Ang_Bantayanon

June 4th, 2008, 02:33 AM

Philpost hasn't improved in years and it never will. Its significance will soon be lost especially because it's so slow in delivering mails. I had a recent experience. A relative waited for a court decision to arrive. It took so long then lo! The court decision arrived in 2 months! The court is only in Cebu City and my relative lives in the nearby Mandaue City.

Inutil talaga ang post office natin.

red_jasper

June 4th, 2008, 08:14 AM

8 YEARS AFTER PASSAGE
Solid Waste Law still not funded or enforced

By Veronica Uy
INQUIRER.net (http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view/20080604-140672/Solid-Waste-Law-still-not-funded-or-enforced)
First Posted 12:26:00 06/04/2008

MANILA, Philippines -- Eight years after its passage, the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000 remains unfunded and not enforced.

Why has the Department of Budget and Management not released the budget necessary for the implementation of this law?" Senator Pia Cayetano, chair of the Senate committee on environment and natural resources, asked during Monday’s hearing of the Joint Congressional Committee on the law.

"It is very frustrating to see a very critical law go to waste just because of funding. This is a serious matter that should be looked into,” Cayetano, who co-chairs the joint committee, said.

Since 2001, a total of P20 million a year, or a total of P140 million, should have been released to implement the solid waste law, Republic Act 9003.

However, at the hearing, the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB), which is tasked to oversee the law's implementation, admitted that it has only been receiving an annual budget of P7 million.

Aside from the budget, Cayetano also expressed concern over the failure of government to meet the deadline set by the law for the closure of open and controlled dump sites by February 16, 2006.

She pointed out that a total of 826 dump sites (open and controlled) remain in operation in 68 provinces across the country.

A list provided by Cayetano's office said the five provinces with the most number of dumpsites are Bohol with 57, Cebu with 38, Pangasinan with 36, Negros Oriental with 29, and Iloilo with 28.

"The law is very clear -- local governments must close their dump site, shift to waste segregation and put up sanitary landfill facilities for their residual waste as mandated by RA 9003," the senator said.

At the hearing, it was also revealed that only some 2,500 of the country's 43,500 barangay (villages) have waste management facilities. Such segregation facilities would have significantly reduced waste in dump sites.

According to the research of Cayetano's office, of the solid waste that ends up in landfills, about 45 percent can still be reused or recycled, 50 percent can be turned into compost, and only five percent either has no use or is non-biodegradable.

In 2003, each person in Metro Manila generated an average of half a kilo of trash daily, which translates to a total of 7,000 tons.

neverwinter

June 4th, 2008, 12:19 PM

^^ But that was't the case in Los Baños, Laguna.

The Los Baños Ecological Solid Waste Management

S&T Highlights: Solving the garbage crisis through science and politics (http://www.pcarrd.dost.gov.ph/news/s&t%20highlights/aug/st0801.htm)

It used to be a source of all kinds of pollution, now it’s a source of livelihood. The once grubby, smoggy, malodorous place has become a clean and green center for processing wastes.

From dumpsite to eco-tourism site and job site––this was what turned out of an area at the eastern foothills of the Makiling Forest Reserve in Los Baños, Laguna.

Thanks to the town’s local government, headed by Los Baños Mayor Caesar P. Perez, and its neighboring science institutions, nongovernmental organizations, and the private sector, the long-time garbage problem has been addressed.

The garbage problem before

In a scientific forum held recently at the Philippine Plaza Hotel, Mayor Perez presented the past and present state of the dumpsite, which began operations in 1980.

The dumpsite used to receive a daily volume of 33–35 tons of unsegregated wastes from the town’s 17,030 households, two public markets, 2,500 commercial establishments, and from nearby towns.

Hazardous wastes by medical and commercial establishments were also dumped on the site.

Because of round-the-clock, on-site waste burning, surrounding households, communities, and establishments were exposed daily to toxic fumes that caused respiratory ailments, allergies, and other diseases.

It takes political will to face the garbage problem

To curb the problem, in line with the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act (RA 9003), the Los Baños municipal government formulated the 10-year (2005–2014) solid waste management plan.

Among its salient points is the conversion of the dumpsite into an Ecological Solid Waste Processing Center (ESWPC), with its integrated technical, social, and political strategies.

As well, in an effort to make Los Baños the cleanest and healthiest municipality, the Sangguniang Bayan passed municipal ordinances on anti-littering, created working committees and task forces, advocated the inclusion of environment protection in school curricula, and encouraged residents to use indigenous baskets in place of nonbiodegradable plastics when marketing.

However, are policy promulgations enough?

According to Mayor Perez, it takes leadership by example for ecological governance to be effective and for people to respect and obey the rules. He also sees the need to impose penalties on those not complying with the ordinances.

But while it is tough on penalizing violators, the local government observes a bottom-up planning approach through community dialogues.

Science interventions go with political will

It was June 14, 2004 when the ESWPC began operating.

A team of experts from various sectors provided the knowledge and skills to eliminate remnants of the dumpsite and recycle a mountain of plastics into useful products.

To this day, the Office of the Mayor continues to consult with the experts, particularly from the agency members of the Los Baños Science Community Foundation, Inc., as regards the ways and means of managing solid wastes.
PCARRD has been providing technical and financial support since the center’s
inception.

The rest of the area is used for the production of ornamentals and vegetables using the produced compost.

The dumpsite is now an eco-park with flowering plants and ornamental trees lining up the entire area. Champaca, ilang-ilang, neem, lapnis, and paper mulberry are among those planted within the area.

The dumpsite also adopted soil and water conservation measures for slope stabilization. Bamboos, fruit trees, and other forest-based tree products were planted to prevent the riverbanks from eroding.

The center is also into making tables and chairs out of plastic wastes. The used polyethylene and polypropylene plastics are washed, dried, melted, and molded into armchairs, legs, and table tops for day care centers.

Putting the acts together

The garbage problem is everyone’s concern––that it takes collective action to make things happen.

What the center is today is all because of the cooperation of the local citizenry and the joint efforts of the 22-member institutions of the LBSCFI and other civic-minded professionals and private individuals. They all shared their expertise, resources, and commitment.

With the project, the local government was able to organize stakeholders such as the various institutions in Los Baños, barangay officials, business establishments, homeowners, resorts, religious organizations, markets, junkshops, funeral parlors, schools, computer shops, and others entities into clusters to mobilize people to work for the cause.

The intensive information, education, and communication campaign by various sectors greatly helped to instill public consciousness and discipline.

Without doubt, the people’s consciousness of the good and the bad thing about wastes was raised to a higher level. Segregating wastes at source and reusing or recycling those that could be have become an integral part of their lives.

(Ofelia F. Domingo, S&T Media Service)

orangejuice

June 4th, 2008, 01:05 PM

if you're mailing documents, it's better to have it registered. At least yun, matratrace. Maraming loko sa Philpost. Yung friend ko sa Iloilo, yung 2 mails niya sa akin, di ko natanggap. Someone must be really stealing mails and the Philpost admin should really try to crack down on these thief employees

Shocks, kasi dati nagpadala na rin ako ng registered mail sa Pinas, in the end, nawala rin! Di rin nahanap kahit subukan pa itrace. Tapos wala naman silang ginawa in the end. Siguro dapat mag courier nalang like DHL or Fedex, mahal nga pero kung sigurado naman makakarating at panatag isip mo.

orangejuice

June 4th, 2008, 01:12 PM

Ung friend ko from Singapore, me DH sila dun na nagpadala ng letter sa asawa nya sa Pinas nung February 2008 pa ha, imagine, natanggap lang ng asawa nya sa Pinas ung letter 2 days ago lang! Eh June na kaya!

Tapos true, dami ngang magnanakaw sa Philpost.

orangejuice

June 4th, 2008, 01:20 PM

Tapos kapag me package ka from abroad, kelangan magbayad ka ng " fee " para matubos mo ung padala sa yo. Me kilala ako nagpadala ung kapatid nya from the U.S. ng package, 1 box ng puro damit lang naman, pinagbabayad ba naman sya ng 2thou pesoses eh nagulat sya bakit sya kelangan magbayad. So in the end sabi nung nangongolekta ng bayad na " under the table " na lang daw bayad, kung ano nalang kayang ibigay at wala ng resi-resibo pa! So ung kakilala ko I think gave 200 Pesos away......nakotongan pa rin.

Juan Pilgrim

June 4th, 2008, 03:39 PM

shyaman

June 7th, 2008, 06:24 AM

When it comes to personal mails such as letters, the postal service is no longer the means of its conveyance.

But postal service is still very much active when it comes to parcel service and corporate and business document transmissions like utility bills, bank statements, etc.

The developed world's postal service are still up and running and very efficient. Here in Australia, post offices are also retail shops where you can buy a few office supplies, gift items, toys etc.

I hope that the PhilPost can diversify and upgrade their outlets as well to make them enticing to the general public. They must be efficient and can guarantee that the recipent will receive the parcel or document sent to him.

A few months ago I sent a parcel to Manila containing some gift items (about the size of a shoe box). The items were not insured because according to the post office here, the Philippine Post Office does not accept insured items because they cannot guarantee that the recipient will receive the sent items. True enough, the gift box that I sent was lost. I filed a complaint with the Australian Post but the document trail ends upon the parcel's arrival at the Philippine Customs. I guess someone at the customs took interest on it and since it was not insured, they cannot be held liable for the replacement cost.

orangejuice

June 7th, 2008, 10:26 PM

Whether you send your mail or parcel via U.S. Postal Service

http://brentwoodcountrymart.com/images/shops/USPostOffice.jpg

Or via the Irish Post Office...

http://www.rjcphotography.net/gallery/Ireland/X-Dublin-Post-Office.jpg

Your mail and parcel will still be handled and delivered by the Philippine Postal Service.

http://www.bigjimsphilippinesexperience.com/images/transport/carabao_cart.jpg

So why bother.
For now I recommend the Private Philippine Courier Services in your area. they are more dependable. IMHO

:horse:
J.P.

Pero papano kung from abroad nagpapadala sa Pinas how can we avail of these private Philippine Courier Services and make sure it does not land on the hands of the mangongotong postal services? Does it mean na Fedex or DHL or TNT na lang ba palagi?

orangejuice

June 7th, 2008, 10:28 PM

Shyaman, does it mean they did not do anything about your lost parcel?

I think ninakaw na yang padala mo.

shyaman

June 9th, 2008, 02:22 PM

^^ Sad to say, pinag-interesan nga... either by the customs people or Philpost. I paid no insurance for the parcel kasi nga the Philippine Post don't accept insured parcels through Australian Post. As such, it's convenient for them (Philpost) to just declare it lost in transit and they won't be held liable for the lost items.

I asked the recipient to check it at the Makati Post Office coz the parcel was addressed in Ayala, Makati. They never received it daw.

orangejuice

June 10th, 2008, 05:14 PM

Juan Pilgrim

June 11th, 2008, 11:10 PM

MABUHAY ANG PILIPINAS!!!

http://anton.blogs.com/flag/large.jpg

MABUHAY ANG PILIPINO!!

MABUHAY ANG ARAW NG KALAYAAN!!

:horse:

J.P.

pi_malejana

June 13th, 2008, 05:39 AM

libre ba ang pagpapadala ng sulat ngayon??:D

shyaman

June 13th, 2008, 04:22 PM

Shyaman, Kung iisipin mo ano, tayo ang napakahelpless, at hindi ang Philpost. Kasi minsan wala naman tayong choice kung anong courier gagamitin natin pagpapadala ng mga packages or kahon kahon na yan. Di naman all the time you can afford Fedex or DHL or Private Couriers di ba? Papano na ung mga OFW na nagdedepend lang sa ordinary padala going to Pinas, na mauuwi lang sigurado sa kamay ng Philpost.

Exactly! We're at the mercy of Philpost.

Sending a parcel through DHL or FedEx is really not practical most of the time kasi lumalabas mas mahal pa yung cost of delivery than the parcel content itself.

Iniisip ko na lang, kung ano man yung kinuha nilang di sa kanila, babawiin din sa kanila sa ibang paraan.

Juan Pilgrim

June 13th, 2008, 06:35 PM

libre ba ang pagpapadala ng sulat ngayon??:D

Yeah libre.

Free if you are sending your wish list
to Santa Claus
in the NORTH POLE.
http://blog.silive.com/latest_news/2007/11/letters.jpg

:horse:

J.P.

orangejuice

June 16th, 2008, 03:51 PM

libre ba ang pagpapadala ng sulat ngayon??:D

libre? meron ba nun? lalo na sa tin? lahat me bayad!

pansin ko lang, kapag postcards o bday card lang pinapadala ko sa parents ko sa maynila, tanggap naman nila agad, like minsan less than 2 weeks. pag tipong envelope na singlaki na ng bond paper/ or pangdocuments na envelope, ayun inaabot ng kopong kopong bago matanggap. kung matatanggap man!

pi_malejana

June 16th, 2008, 10:31 PM

^^ kasi nung independence day, libre ang ride sa LRT so i thought libre rin ang PRC...:D
tama ka dun sa observation mo, basta greeting cards, matatanggap.. pagka mas malaki na sa standard-sized envelope, huwag mo nang asahan...:lol:

Juan Pilgrim

June 17th, 2008, 04:03 PM

http://www.guampedia.com/media/0000/2681/0007-KC-366-Water-Buffalo-i_normal.jpg?1194499734

AT THIS TIME I will not take my chances on the PHIL. POSTAL SERVICE.

:horse:

J.P.

orangejuice

June 19th, 2008, 12:55 PM

orangejuice

June 19th, 2008, 12:57 PM

Juan Pilgrim, mabagal pa sa kalabaw ang Phil. Post. The snail is actually quicker than Phil.post!

barrera_marquez

June 19th, 2008, 01:55 PM

Juan Pilgrim, mabagal pa sa kalabaw ang Phil. Post. The snail is actually quicker than Phil.post!

Baka pagong?

Juan Pilgrim

June 19th, 2008, 03:12 PM

meyron ba tayong pagong sa PILIPINAS??

Siguro meron kasi meyron tayong TURTLE ISLAND.
Atin nga ba ang TURTLE ISLAND???

:horse:

J.P.

barrera_marquez

June 19th, 2008, 03:44 PM

meyron ba tayong pagong sa PILIPINAS??

Siguro meron kasi meyron tayong TURTLE ISLAND.
Atin nga ba ang TURTLE ISLAND???

:horse:

J.P.

May pagong tayo hindi ba? Yung mga pawikang nahuhuli sa mga baybayin natin...

Juan Pilgrim

June 19th, 2008, 04:40 PM

tama ka.

medjo nakalimutan ko lang ng sandali

:horse:

J.P.

orangejuice

June 20th, 2008, 01:08 PM

Snail....in reference kasi to " snail mail! "

Yahoo!

spearhead

June 22nd, 2008, 07:44 AM

JUST sort out everything!

1. Organic waste
2. Backyard waste
3. Recycling
4. Animal Oil waste
5. Inorganic/Solid waste

le Reine

June 22nd, 2008, 10:44 AM

Teka, may law ba tayo about establishment and management of sewerage systems?

spearhead

June 23rd, 2008, 10:24 PM

Teka, may law ba tayo about establishment and management of sewerage systems?

Poor philippines....

8 YEARS AFTER PASSAGE:
Solid Waste Law still not funded or enforced
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view/20080604-140672/Solid-Waste-Law-still-not-funded-or-enforced

Solid Waste Management in the Philippines
http://www.environcorp.com/img/media/SWM_Philippines_Paper.pdf

State of Waste Management in South East Asia
http://www.unep.or.jp/Ietc/Publications/spc/State_of_waste_Management/7.asp

B. Industrial Solid Waste
As mentioned earlier, most of the ASEAN countries handle and treat industrial solid waste together with municipal solid waste. This means that the same methods are used, which would comprise of open dumping, landfilling, and incineration. However, in those countries where there are few waste management facilities, the industrial solid wastes are often dumped on private land, or buried within or close to the premises of the industrial facility where they have been generated. There are concerns that some hazardous waste may be disposed along with non-hazardous industrial solid wastes, which are collected and deposited in municipal landfills and open dumps. However, data is lacking on the quantities and characteristics of these wastes. In most of the ASEAN countries, except in the Philippines where a new law (R.A. 9003) was recently passes (2001), there is no specific legislation requiring separate management of industrial waste from municipal solid waste.

C. Hazardous Waste
Many ASEAN countries are in the early stages of industrialization and many of their industries lack the capital needed to invest in waste treatment systems or to replace old equipment with modern technologies. In order to save costs many industries import outdated second hand equipment despite government prohibitions and guidelines, e.g. Vietnam’s Law on Environmental Protection (1993), which bans import of technology that does not meet environmental standards. However, a number of ASEAN countries have laws mandating various aspects of hazardous waste management, such as, the methods of handling, treatment and disposal of hazardous wastes.

The most acceptable method of disposal for hazardous wastes is through the use of sanitary landfills as practiced in Malaysia. Although hazardous waste incinerators have been developed in Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand. In the case of the Philippines, one facility for treatment of metal finishing wastewater available on Cebu Island and an incineration plant for medical wastes is found in Laguna. In the rest of the countries in the ASEAN region there is usually co-disposal of hazardous waste with municipal solid waste in open dumps, including, perhaps, storage of toxic wastes in sealed containers.

flesh_is_weak

June 23rd, 2008, 10:26 PM

di ba pwedeng i-implement dito yung "Mount Trashmore" na method of waste disposal dito?

spearhead

June 23rd, 2008, 10:31 PM

SOLID WASTE & RECYCLING MANAGEMENT PROJECTS:

"If there is a will - there is a way..."
http://www.conexor.se/philippines/dilg/dilg_pinagkaisahan.htm

Study on the Recycling Industry Development in the Philippines
http://www.solidwastephilippines.org/content/view/33/1/

iamjomar

June 24th, 2008, 07:45 PM

^^pano ba yan ayaw na magpatapon ng basura ng Metro Manila
ang Rizal Sanitary Landfill...

iamjomar

June 24th, 2008, 07:46 PM

^^pano ba yan ayaw na magpatapon ng basura ng Metro Manila
ang Rizal Sanitary Landfill...

le Reine

June 24th, 2008, 10:05 PM

^^yun na nga eh. tapos ang gulo gulo pa ng makati. as usual, pinapamukha na namang walang kuwenta ang MMDA... as if may nagawa siya in his two terms as MMDA chair.

Porknight

June 25th, 2008, 01:13 AM

Discipline is what we lack .. i saw many people when i visit the philippines just throw anything on the street .. people just don't care they don't love enough the country !

iamjomar

June 25th, 2008, 02:16 PM

^^yun na nga eh. tapos ang gulo gulo pa ng makati. as usual, pinapamukha na namang walang kuwenta ang MMDA... as if may nagawa siya in his two terms as MMDA chair.

Marikina lang daw ang inaasikaso ng MMDA sabi ni Binay :bash:

iamjomar

June 25th, 2008, 02:17 PM

Discipline is what we lack .. i saw many people when i visit the philippines just throw anything on the street .. people just don't care they don't love enough the country !

hais, kailan kaya tayo magkakaroon nyan...:ohno:

swahi

June 26th, 2008, 11:29 AM

Laguna de Bay, the biggest septic tank for metro manila. Would you like to eat fish from Laguna de Bay?

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/regions/view/20080618-143458/Villagers-live-with-dying-Laguna-de-Bay

Villagers live with dying Laguna de Bay

By Niña Catherine Calleja
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 23:25:00 06/18/2008

BIÑAN, Laguna – Dark gray water runs fetid in the Biñan River, where many residents of Barangay Malaban in Biñan town in Laguna dump their wastes, passing through a narrow canal and into the Laguna de Bay.

The villagers are no longer bothered by the terrible smell. “They have gotten used to it,” said fisherman Valeriano “Ka Anong” Gutierrez, president of the Fisheries and Aquatic Resource Management Councils (FARMC) in Biñan.

Malaban, a fishing village two kilometers from the town proper, lies along the Laguna de Bay.

One of the lake’s 21 major and heavily polluted tributaries, the Biñan River has been the receptacle of household and industrial wastes in crowded cities and municipalities of the province.

Nine other waterways have high levels of coliform and grease, according to a Laguna Lake Development Authority (LLDA) report in the last quarter of 2005. Only the Central West Bay has a low fecal coliform concentration.

Memories of clean lake

According to Gutierrez, pollution in the lake started when people from Bicol, the Visayas and other regions, moved into Malaban. “When someone here marries a dayo (outsider), normally he would bring his entire family and stay here for good,” he says.

The people live in cramped shanties, choosing to stay in the village because they benefit from the lake.

A fisherman for over 50 years now, Benito Corrales, 77, has witnessed the significant changes in the lake. He recalls how he and the other villagers would fill up a boat with biya, ayungin, dalag, kanduli, tilapia and other fish species.

“We would sail at around 2 a.m. and overnight we would get a bountiful catch,” he says. There were no motorized boats then; the waves led them to the fishing grounds.

The small community also used to enjoy the clear and clean water of the lake. “We used to cook and eat near the lake. A kanduli, for example, after being cleaned in the lake, was ready for cooking,” Corrales says.

Laguna had only a few factories, he says.

Poor fishermen

“It is now different,” says the scrawny fisherman. He stopped drinking water from the lake when he began to get sick.

Now, fishermen only get tilapia and “they’re lucky if they get to catch a kanduli,” Corrales says. In one day, a fisherman gets 10 kilos of fish at most, which is worth P500.

Gutierrez says the villagers are so poor that they must get a day job so they can feed their children.

Carlos Caragay, a fisherman, says he caught only five pieces of tilapia that morning. It will serve as their dinner later.

Caragay’s wife works part-time in a shoe factory to augment the family income. She also peddles his catch in the public market.

“Kelangang makaraos (We need to survive),” Caragay says.

Fish quality

Both Gutierrez and Corrales have noticed the changing quality of the fish.

“Before, the fish here were large and plump, but recently, it appears stricken by TB (tuberculosis),” Gutierrez says. He describes a tilapia caught in the lake as “maputla at payat (pale and thin).”

Most fishermen agree to the findings of the LLDA study on the heavy metal contents in tilapia, dalag and janitor fish. “Sometimes, tilapia tastes like gasoline or paper,” Gutierrez says.

According to a World Bank-funded study undertaken by Jose Cariño III, community development division chief of the LLDA, a man with a body weight of 67 kg and consuming less than one kg (0.72 kg) of fish caught in the lake per week is taking in 3.9655 mg of mercury per week.

The finding, which was released last year, notes that the highest mercury level for fish edible part was at 5.5 mg/kg.

Cariño says the level of mercury found in the fish sample is beyond the acceptable limit of 1.6 micrograms per kilogram of fish per week as set by the Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Health Organization in June 2003.

The finding should be treated with consideration since “eating tilapia now is like eating janitor fish,” he says.

But Cariño notes a similar study of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, which found that the heavy metal contents of the fish sample passed acceptable standards.

Mercury, a neurotoxic substance, has a significant effect on human intelligence.

Though the LLDA has yet to determine the effects of the heavy metal content in fish to communities, Cariño says some school principals in the lakeside communities have reported that more pupils have low IQ (intelligence quotient) and difficulties in comprehension.

Who’s to blame?

Laguna de Bay will be dying in a few years if pollution continues, Edgardo Manda, LLDA general manager, declared sometime in March.

It has become a “septic tank” because of the influx of 32,000 families along the shore whose wastes are dumped into the lake and its tributaries, he said.

Around 80 percent of the wastes come from domestic and industrial waste, Carino claims. All municipalities around the lake and industries that dispose wastewater are contributing to the pollution, he adds.

Feeds coming from fish pen and cages have also been gradually killing the lake.

But there is still hope, according to Gutierrez and fellow fisherfolk.

Gutierrez, who also heads the Laguna de Bay Environmental Army, says that the group’s 400 members have started clean-up activities and a segregation project in the watershed of Laguna Lake.

“We have yet to accomplish big changes in the lake because we have not kept some of our projects sustainable,” he admits.

Persuading people to stop throwing their wastes into the lake and its rivers is the “hardest thing to do,” Gutierrez adds.

Fast Facts

Laguna de Bay, the country’s largest lake, has a total surface area of 900 square kilometers with an average depth of 2.5 meters, but is relatively shallow.

Its watershed covers 15 cities and 46 municipalities within Metro Manila and nearby provinces of Laguna, Rizal, Batangas, Cavite and Quezon.

The lake is home to various plant and animal species, and its most dominant use is on fisheries. According to the Laguna Lake Development Authority, it yielded between 37,000-47,000 metric tons of fish raised in pens from 1997 to 2000.

Water from the lake is also used for irrigation, transportation and power generation.

Source: Laguna Lake Development Authority, www.llda.gov.ph