President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. (File photo)
MANILA – President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on Friday called on local government units (LGUs) to participate in the nationwide cleanup drive dubbed the “Kalinisan sa Bagong Pilipinas” Program that will be launched on Jan. 6.
In a video message posted on the Presidential Communications Office’s official Facebook page, Marcos emphasized that the changes the Filipinos want for the country must start in the villages.
“Let our barangays be the laboratory of workable ideas, a showcase of what we can achieve together, and proof that the basic government unit, the barangay, teems with best practices. Simulan po natin sa kaayusan at kalinisan (Let us start with order and cleanliness),” he said.
“Filipinos do not deserve dirty, dingy, or dark communities. Kaya kumilos tayo upang gawing maaliwalas at malinis ang ating kapaligiran. Dapat walang lugar, ni puwang, ang dumi, dugyot, at dilim sa ating pamayanan (So let's act to make our environment comfortable and clean. There should be no place, no space, for dirt, dust, and darkness in our community).”
The President made the call as the country observes the National Community Development Day on Jan. 6.
He urged the local officials, including the newly elected village and youth council officials, to take the lead in cleaning up all roads, canals, markets, and schools.
“Ang mga nasa barangay ay ang mga front-liner ng pamahalaan (Those who are in the villages are the front-liners of the government). They are the forward detachments of government service. They are the first responders to people in distress,” Marcos said.
“Kaya kung walang patid at pahinga ang kanilang trabaho, ang community development ay hindi rin dapat ipagdiriwang isang araw lamang sa buong taon (So if their work is uninterrupted, community development should not be celebrated just one day throughout the year). Every day must be Community Development Day.”
He also called for public participation, saying pollution and waste problems could only be addressed if everyone, not just the government, has the “solid will” to help.
He lamented that trash “flows out to seas that have become cesspools of our waste” and plastics “have become dead pools of marine life, cellophanes choking corals to death, microplastics ending up in the fish that we eat.”
Marcos said the country would succeed in addressing waste mismanagement if Filipinos adopt the habit of not littering and seeking a “clean and green" community.
“Government will do as much as it can, but it can only do so much. We cannot deploy sweepers who will follow each citizen around and pick up every trash that is thrown,” he said.
“We cannot spend tens of billions a year collecting garbage whose volume could have been reduced through individual daily reuse and recycling. At the end of the day, it is not only modern equipment that will win the war against waste.”
Through a Jan. 3 memorandum released by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), the Kalinisan sa Bagong Pilipinas program will be launched on Jan. 6 to raise awareness and encourage participation among Filipino citizens on environmental responsibility through proper solid waste management.
The program also aims to encourage local government units (LGUs) to invest in programs, projects, and activities on solid waste management and ecological practices, as well as set up a recognition system for the cleanest LGUs.
The cleanup drive will be simultaneously held in all villages nationwide from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Saturday.
The DILG is also encouraging all beneficiaries of the Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers (TUPAD), as well as students and teachers in public schools, as well as state universities and colleges to participate in the nationwide program.
All interested volunteers and civil society organizations are also enjoined to join the activities. (PNA)
