“Wala (kami) choice kay amo ‘ni amon palangabuhian,” Evelyn Alegre tells Panay News. 
Scavengers look for recyclables at the Calajunan sanitary landfill in Mandurriao, Iloilo City.
ILOILO City – In this time of coronavirus pandemic, sanitation and cleanliness are a must. But where should waste pickers put themselves when garbage is literally their means of livelihood?
For Evelyn Alegre, a waste picker at the city’s dumpsite in Barangay Calajunan, Mandurriao district, quitting is not an option.
“Kon indi kami magkayod sa basurahan, waay kami ibakal bugas,” Evelyn told Panay News.
Clad in her ready-to-pick-up-garbage suit, Panay News chanced upon Evelyn heading towards the dumpsite.
Forty-nine years old and a mother of five, she had been picking waste these past 25 years – the job that made it possible for her to put food on the family table.
Evelyn started scavenging garbage after she and her husband, also a garbage collector, got married.
From being a street sweeper in La Paz district, she lived with her husband in Barangay Calajunan.
“Dira lang kami sa basurahan nagapangabuhi. Wala choice kay amo ‘ni amon palangabuhian,” she said.
According to Evelyn, she can earn as much as P1,550 per week out of the recyclable wastes that can be sold such as plastic bottles, sacks and cardboard boxes, among others.
Her eldest and second children, who now have families of their own, are also earning a living through waste picking.
Evelyn also shared that she is also working at the dumpsite’s Material Recovery Facility (MRF) for extra income.
Ten groups alternately work there, segregating recyclables from the biodegradables.
Due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), Evelyn said she wears facemask and protective gear while waste picking.
They were also prohibited from bringing their small children to the dumpsite.
PROGRAM FOR WASTE PICKERS
Neil Ravena, chief of the city’s Solid Waste Management Division, said the city government is providing waste pickers alternative livelihood.
“Iban sa ila nagapanahi, iban sa construction… iban gindala ta sa MRF,” said Ravena.
Ravena cited a guideline from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources – Environmental Management Bureau requiring all waste pickers to be pulled out from the dumpsites, however, “indi man ta gusto nga mawad-an sila sang livelihood.”
“Magutoman sila so the reason why nga long-term solution ang ginahatag ta. Gina amat-amat ta sila extract halin sa Calajunan sanitary landfill,” Ravena added.
He noted that this was the reason why from more or less 250 waste pickers in Calajunan years ago, only about 80 are left now.
“Ginatinguhaan ta nga ini nga mga waste pickers matagaan programa ni Mayor (Jerry Treñas). Actually si Mayor nag-provide sa ila sewing machines…Ginatinguhaan ta nga ang ila sini mga kabataan indi mangin waste pickers man para mauntat na ang henerasyon. After that, makapangubuhi sila sang maayo, and ma-elevate sila sa mas maayo nga ulobrahan,” Ravena stressed.
Further, Ravena also noted that the association of Calajunan waste pickers was able to acquire a lot also in Calajunan area, but away from the dumpsite.
They used the money they saved up from working at the MRF and through the help of non-government organizations.
Around 30 to 60 of them, who are mostly residing near the dumpsite, can now transfer their homes.
Ravena said they are helping the association so they could have their lot registered./PN
