Baguio Residents and Baguio City Local Government on a Deadlock over Garbage Disposal

Smell no more the pine trees!  This time its garbage in Baguio.

Its almost three weeks since I wrote about the mounting garbage uncollected on the sidewalks of Baguio City, for instance on a corner in Leonard Wood Street and several corners of Navy Base. And three weeks hence they still lay on the same territory rotting and attracting a cacophony of insects especially cockroaches, rats and flies.

Baguio City has imposed a “no-segregation no collection policy” since October 1, 2009. Under this scheme garbage will be collected twice a week, one day for biodegradable and another day for non-biodegradable.

But why the mounting garbage uncollected? Who is to blame? Who will give in first?

Accordingly, Baguio has the same policy of “no-segregation, no collection policy” over a year ago. Piles of unsegregated garbage lay waste on the sidewalks for days. That historical mess of an impasse – Baguio City Government Vs Baguio Residents ended up with the former waving the white flag, the latter happy and victorious. This year’s situation may be different. It’s been weeks over rotten wastes and ugly sights and smells in the Philippines summer capital. Who will give in this time?

Should Baguio City Government be held responsible of individual waste? Should it have given time for the residents to learn the value of the environment through waste segregation? (Like the recent catastrophe during the Ondoy and Pepeng typhoon is not enough?) Should residents especially individuals in each household at least take responsibility for their wastes?

This crisis is a tug of war between Baguio City Local Government and Baguio City Residents. But this is a game where nobody wins. I bet it will take another catastrophe for both to wake up from its prideful indifference. Until then, it will be too late. We will reap the garbage sown on the streets.

Garbage City

It is so depressing to arrive back in Baguio and see the same piles of garbages uncollected and mounting like Mt Apo. The sight is repulsive and so is the smell. There are really a lot in every corner. I don’t know why penalties cannot be imposed on individuals and residences throwing their rubbish.

In our little hometown in Lugait, Misamis Oriental, households are fined  one hundred pesos (P 100.00) for unsegregated wastes. The garbage collectors with the garbage checker do this at the level when garbages are picked up from each households. At the time these garbages reach the dumpsite. The garbages are even further segregated. Recyclables will go to the recycling centers and biodegradables are composted.

I also noticed that cities and towns in the south are a lot cleaner than the famed summer capital of the Philippines. It must be the culture of panilhig (sweeping). Households and even owners of establishments clean up their surroundings with the walis tingting every morning. Every morning in my hometown the neighborhood goes out in their frontyard and even beyond to clean up. It is not just a routine. For my mom, it is her form of exercise. If it is not cultural then it must be a function of the abundance of coconut trees in the area. In Baguio, there are no coconut trees and besides, its cold to be sweeping the areas outside.

Early morning last thursday I arrived in Cagayan de Oro noticing the obviously clean surroundings. It is a far cry from the heaps of garbages I see daily in Baguio. My senses were probably so adapted to the garbage that I noticed its absence or lack of it in places I visit. It’s the same in Iligan, in Davao and the many places I get to visit in Mindanao.

Once more, if the city government of Baguio has difficulty in managing the city’s waste then it is also up to individuals, all of us to reduce, re-use and recycle. I think that it also calls for a change in our lifestyle.

Baguio = Basura

The week-long heavy rains and winds brought about by Typhoon Pepeng has cleaned the streets of Baguio City off its garbage. A few days of isolation of the city due to the damage on the roads leading to and away from Baguio has also weaned the streets from the fumes of running vehicles. It was a perfect Baguio – free from both the noise, the air and the unsightly images of garbage.

A few days after the tragedy city life commenced with the vehicles swarming the streets and of course the garbages. I think people refused to learn their lesson. The deaths of hundreds of people was blamed to nature rather than a force majeure precipitated by man-made acts.

The waste management disposal of the city was already a concern so alarming as it was five years ago when I was still a student in UP-Baguio. I remember my professor talking about waste management disposal as an issue and concern at the individual and not the household level. It is a matter of an individual taking responsibility in reducing, re-using and recycling.

There are little things we can do like little changes in our lifestyle to help our environment and if done consistently can make a bigger and more positive impact. Like for instance carrying your own bag when shopping. I bought a green bag from SM City Baguio at P30.00. I use it even when picking my fresh fruits and veggies at the public market. I wash it from time to time when soiled. I also refuse to have my toiletries packed when shopping. Instead I just ask for the receipt and stuff my items inside my bag. I hate plastics not only because it is generally non-biodegrable but I find it hard to dispose them even when re-used. There may be new technology now that recycles plastics into fuel. (See earhth911.com) But it may take years for this technology to come into the country in as much as it will even take centuries for people to be aware and conscious of the impacts of their lifestyles on the environment. The one thing that I see among the people with convenient lifestyles (throwing plastics here and there) is their lack of rootedness in the earth and lack of identification with the city. Who cares? They’re migrants, transients and tourists! The same problem with garbages is now haunting the sinking Maldives- a tourist destination for their beautiful beaches in the Indian Ocean .

There was one time my colleagues were talking about garbages especially canisters of shampoo and soap and water. They came up with the idea of refilling stations. And yes why not! A refilling station is such a great green idea and a good entrepreneurial idea too.

Baguio City if it is serious to sustain its income from tourism should also be as serious in maintaining its cleanliness and in taking care of its environment. Should they revisit again the proposal to ban the use of plastics? Should they also regulate the number of buildings, the franchises of taxis, and not merely impose a coding scheme? Should they also declare a no car day in Baguio? So that at least for one sweet day we will be breathing fresh air! Should individuals also drive in car pool instead of use their own car for convenience? Should we be riding on bikes instead, and declare Session Road and Harrison Road as car and motor free streets? Should the city government also impose fines and really heavy penalties for violators thereof?

Baguio City with its cool weather is better appreciated when walked. Try doing that in the wee hours of the morning around Session Road when the cars are fewer. And opps, dont bother with the mountains of garbage on the streets. Just bring your hanky for cover!