ILOILO – Twenty-one bags of trash with a total equivalent weight of 138 kilograms were collected during the recent province-wide launching of the provincial government’s “Limpyo Iloilo” cleanup campaign.
The garbage was gathered from 10.2 kilometers of road network – from Barangay Cabugao Sur, Santa Barbara town to the Iloilo Airport and up to Barangay Tabucan, Cabatuan.
According to Mitzi Peñaflorida, senior environmental management specialist of the Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office (PENRO), the gatherers included provincial government employees, representatives from national government agencies, students, and volunteer groups.
But the total number of gathered trash was likely higher. The province’s 42 towns and the component city of Passi also conducted simultaneous cleanup activities during the “Limpyo” launching.
The garbage collected from Santa Barbara to Cabatuan included cigarette butts, food wrappers, food takeout containers, bottle caps, plastic bags, and bottles, among others.
The residual wastes were disposed at Iloilo City’s dumpsite in Barangay Calajunan, Mandurriao district while those made of plastic were turned over to a civic foundation which has a project recycling plastic waste into plastic chairs, said Peñaflorida.
Through “Limpyo Iloilo”, Gov. Arthur Defensor Jr. wanted the province to have a “clean province identity.”
This campaign emphasizes solid waste management to reduce littering, throwing and illegal dumping of wastes along plazas, waterways and other public places.
The PENRO spearheads this campaign which will be done every third Saturday of each month in line with Provincial Ordinance No. 2018-184, Series of 2019 (“An ordinance requiring all local government units in coastal areas of the province of Iloilo to conduct a community-based coastal clean-up activity once a month”)./PN
