ILOILO City’s garbage problem is no longer merely an environmental concern. It has become a costly failure of public discipline and law enforcement, draining hundreds of millions of pesos that could have been spent on health services, drainage systems, classrooms and other urgent public needs.
The figures are staggering. As reported by this paper yesterday, a 2022 Cost of Service Analysis showed that the city government spent more than P365.65 million on solid waste management while collecting only P55.92 million in garbage fees. This forced the city to subsidize 84 percent of the cost. Even after garbage fees were doubled in 2024, taxpayers still shoulder an estimated 60 to 70 percent of the system’s expenses.
The crux of this financial burden is poor waste segregation. Iloilo City collects around 490 tons of mixed garbage daily because many households and establishments continue to throw biodegradable, recyclable, residual and special wastes into the same containers. As a result, materials that could have been composted, recovered or recycled are hauled and disposed of at public expense.
This is money literally being thrown away.
Republic Act No. 9003, or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000, has required segregation at source for more than two decades. Yet compliance remains weak. The problem stems from lax enforcement, inconsistent barangay implementation and the stubborn refusal of many residents and businesses to take responsibility for the waste they generate.
Information campaigns are necessary, but reminders alone will not solve a problem that has persisted for years. The city government and barangays must conduct regular and honest-to-goodness inspections, ensure that materials recovery facilities are functional, and refuse to collect improperly segregated garbage. Repeat violators — whether households, commercial establishments or institutions — must face meaningful penalties.
Barangay officials must also be held accountable. Waste segregation cannot succeed if local authorities simply allow mixed garbage to be collected and transferred to city trucks. Every barangay should have measurable waste-reduction targets, reliable collection schedules and transparent records showing how much recyclable and biodegradable waste is diverted from final disposal.
The city must likewise make compliance practical. Residents need clear and uniform rules, accessible composting and recycling facilities, dependable collection arrangements and proper channels for disposing of electronic and hazardous waste. Enforcement will be credible only when the government provides a system that citizens can reasonably follow.
Iloilo City’s goal of reducing its waste-management subsidy to about 50 percent is understandable, but financial sustainability cannot come mainly from raising garbage fees. Increasing charges while tolerating poor segregation merely makes compliant taxpayers pay more for the irresponsibility of others.
Mismanaged garbage does not disappear when it leaves the household gate. It reappears as higher public spending, landfill pressure, clogged waterways, flooding, pollution and health risks. Iloilo City cannot aspire to be clean, resilient and livable while treating waste segregation as a joke.
The city has already paid dearly for this collective neglect. It is time to enforce the law, demand accountability and make every waste generator bear a fair share of responsibility. Otherwise, taxpayers will continue financing a garbage system made unnecessarily expensive by habits that should have been discarded long ago.
