DENR starts 'zero basura' caravan

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has started a "Zero Basura" caravan to urge the public to adopt a "zero-waste" lifestyle. An article on the DENR website (www.denr.gov.ph) said DENR Secretary Jose Atienza Jr. launched the program during flag raising ceremonies at the DENR compound in Quezon City. Dubbed as “Strengthening Local Actions through FOURmula 1-Zero Basura Caravan," the caravan started April 20 in Ipil, Zamboanga Sibugay province. The DENR said the caravan will be a "sequenced intensive, information, education (IEC) campaign that will pass through provinces, cities and municipalities starting in Mindanao, Visayas and Luzon, with the intent of cascading its key programs and strengthening DENR-LGUs partnership in solid waste management." As this developed, Atienza said the DENR is set to file charges for negligence and non-compliance against 50 cities and municipalities that continue to operate open dumps. "The rest of the LGUs that will not take any step, the green courts are now waiting for them," Atienza said, referring to the courts that will be set up to hear and try cases concerning violations of the environmental laws. DENR Assistant Secretary for Local Government Concerns and Lands and Executive Director of the National Solid Waste Management Commission (NSWMC) Gerardo Calderon will supervise the program’s implementation in the local government units. Calderon said his office has already devised a strategy that would harmonize the various local actions on the management of the environment. “With the enormity of the impact of garbage on the environment and our people, we need to craft a strategy that would harmonize all local actions – from the uplands to the coastal areas, from national down to the municipal or city levels, or from horizontal to vertical actions, interconnecting into a single action," he said. Atienza said the directive of President Arroyo to reduce by 50% the volume of garbage generated in the country in six months reflects not only the seriousness of our garbage problem but also the need for a more concerted and conscientious effort on the part of our local leaders and the people to implement the solid management program and for the DENR to seriously enforce RA 9003. President Arroyo signed Executive Order No. 774 entitled “Reorganizing the Presidential Task Force on Climate Change" on Dec. 26, 2008. She put the DENR as head of the Task Group on Solid Waste Management. RA 9003 mandates the setting up of an ecology center in every barangay and segregation of wastes at every step, and bans open burning and open dumpsites, among others. In May 2008, the DENR and the National Solid Waste Management Commission (NSWMC) has implemented a three-strike policy against LGUs that continue to operate open and controlled dumpsites in defiance of the existing waste management law. “The threat of climate change to humanity cannot be overemphasized. But the ways by which governments can help address it are many, such as the proper management of our garbage. Garbage, if not properly attended to, produce methane, a greenhouse gas whose warming potential is 20 times greater than that of carbon dioxide," Atienza said. - GMANews.TV