FOR YEARS, Iloilo Province has invested steadily in sanitation infrastructure — building toilets, setting up public comfort rooms, and supporting municipalities as they work toward the Department of Health’s Grade 2 (G2) basic sanitation certification. On paper, the progress looks impressive: Iloilo achieved Grade 1 (Zero Open Defecation) in 2022, and millions of pesos continue to be poured annually into sanitation facilities. Yet, for all the concrete poured and toilets installed, only one municipality — Tubungan —has managed to reach G2 status.
Why? Because the real battle lies not in construction, but in changing behavior.
As Iloilo Provincial Health Office chief Dr. Maria Socorro Colmenares-Quiñon candidly noted, the province’s most stubborn hurdle is not the availability of toilets but “the behavior sang tawo” — people’s deeply ingrained habits when it comes to animal waste disposal, household solid waste management, and responsible pet ownership. These behaviors, shaped over generations, cannot be corrected by infrastructure alone. They require persuasion, cultural shifts, sustained education, and consistent enforcement — things far more complex than building another restroom.
Animal waste, for instance, remains one of the most pervasive but least-discussed sanitation concerns in rural and peri-urban communities. Livestock droppings are often left in open spaces or washed directly into waterways. Dog feces litter streets, posing risks of parasitic infections, leptospirosis, and contamination during floods. Stray animals roam unrestrained, contributing to both waste and road accidents. These are clear public health threats, yet many barangays still approach them with indifference.
Then there is toilet sharing — a practice long normalized in rural communities, despite its clear risks for disease transmission. G2 criteria prohibit shared toilets, yet many families still see it as acceptable and even practical. Changing that mindset requires more than lectures; it demands that people understand the health implications and embrace the cultural shift toward private sanitation as a standard, not a luxury.
This is where local government units (LGUs) must innovate. Building toilets is the easy part. Changing habits requires strategic community mobilization, behavior change communication, and localized campaigns that resonate with people’s lived realities. LGUs must go beyond barangay orientations and adopt approaches that are culturally sensitive, sustained, and backed by enforcement. They must train community champions — not just health workers, but educators, faith leaders, and local influencers whose voices carry weight.
Equally important is political will. No amount of funding or training can substitute for a firm, consistent enforcement of sanitation ordinances. Without enforcement, behavior change becomes optional — and progress becomes stagnant.
Iloilo’s race for G2 compliance by 2028 remains achievable. But it will require the province to recognize the truth: toilets alone do not guarantee sanitation. Behavior does. And behavior change takes time, patience, creativity, and leadership committed to transforming not just facilities, but mindsets.
