Zamboanga City sets 2nd ‘Basura Run’

ZAMBOANGA CITY -- The Office of the City Environment and Natural Resources (OCENR) is spearheading on Sunday the second “Basura Run”, an advocacy on cleanliness and fitness.

Rodrigo Pagotaisidro, public service officer of OCENR, said the activity will kick off at 5 a.m. from the Guiwan Barangay Hall to Barangay Tugbungan. The registration fee is PHP50 for each participant.

Pagotaisidro said the participants are required to bring empty sacks or any container, with their name written on it, for the collection of plastic and styrofoam wastes that they can find in the course of the run.

He said the activity aims to instill public awareness on the importance of throwing garbage in proper bins to maintain cleanliness and to prevent flooding. It is anchored on the theme, “Beat Plastic Pollution, If You Can’t Re-Use It, Refuse It.”

The first “Basura Run” was held on June 25, which started at the RT Lim Blvd. in Barangay San Jose-Cawa-Cawa and ended at the Paseo del Mar in Barangay Zone 4.

Meanwhile, Pagotaisidro said they are working to strengthen the capacities of the barangays in line with sanitation, particularly solid waste management.

He said they are continuously conducting assemblies in the barangays, pursuant to the implementation of City Ordinance 176, for the reorganization of ecological solid waste management committees and the development of the barangay solid waste management plan.

The official explained that the barangays will don bigger roles in waste management, particularly in identifying their respective purok or zone where to start segregation and the creation of an eco-volunteer group that will handle the solid waste management program.

He said garbage trucks will be provided to the barangays, which will then handle their own garbage collection, segregation, and disposal at the sanitary landfill. (PNA)