THE REPORT from Iloilo’s Provincial Government Environment and Natural Resources Office (PGENRO) revealing that all 1,721 barangays have formally established Materials Recovery Facilities (MRFs) may seem like a cause for celebration. On paper, Iloilo has achieved 100 percent compliance with Republic Act No. 9003, the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000. But dig a little deeper, and the sheen of compliance quickly fades.
Many of these barangay MRFs are reportedly non-functional. Waste remains unsegregated. Composting is rare. And the so-called facilities are sometimes nothing more than token structures that serve as visual proof of compliance rather than centers of actual waste processing. What this tells us is painfully clear: compliance in form is not the same as compliance in function.
This is not a new story. Government programs too often reward appearance over substance. Local officials scramble to meet quotas and infrastructure targets but fall short on sustainability and day-to-day implementation. In the case of solid waste management, the result is a system that ticks legal boxes but fails to deliver environmental protection on the ground.
Let us shift the lens from inputs to outcomes. Instead of merely counting how many barangays have MRFs, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), in partnership with local governments, must start evaluating how many of these are actually being used properly. How many tons of biodegradable waste are composted monthly? How many recyclables are recovered? How many residents are participating in household-level segregation?
This outcome-based monitoring may also be tied to incentives and support systems. Barangays with fully operational MRFs should receive performance-based grants, technical assistance, and recognition. Those that consistently fail, despite repeated interventions, must face penalties — not just gentle reminders.
PGENRO’s own admission that “we are not too strict in our enforcement” is a red flag. Soft enforcement breeds soft results. If we are serious about protecting our environment, there must be consequences for non-compliance, just as there must be rewards for genuine progress.
The good news is that we do not need massive budgets to turn this around. As PGENRO specialist Mitzi Peñaflorida rightly pointed out, functional MRFs can be simple and cost-effective. What’s needed is community buy-in, political will, and a commitment to results — not just reports.
RA 9003 was landmark legislation. But nearly 25 years since its passage, it’s time we ask ourselves: are we still stuck measuring success by how many facilities are built—or are we finally ready to measure success by how much waste we actually recover, reuse, and divert from our landfills?
Iloilo can lead by example. But only if its barangays move beyond compliance for compliance’s sake and truly embrace what sustainable waste management is meant to be — a system that works, not just one that looks like it does.
