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era o Bayong', 'Sa Pula, sa Puti'. The choosing bug has bit the
national psyche so hard that one sees entire families in front of their
TV sets for these lunchtime game shows.
Here one makes a choice for the best prize to take home. The Philippines,
meanwhile, or at least all those who are watching noontime TV, sit in
rapt attention and cheer the contestant on.
One local government unit recently presented options to its constituency.
The people were made to make a choice for the present and the future -
food to eat today, fish to harvest tomorrow.
The people of Malabuyoc, a municipality over two hours from Cebu City,
moved, and they spoke for the theme: "Dinhi sa amo
sa Malabuyoc, hapsay ug himsog ang palibot" Their
choice was "Basura o Bugas", and their preference is obvious.
The campaign calls on residents to turn in a kilo of used plastic bags
in exchange for two kilos of rice. Ten kilos of either hard plastics,
cans, bottles or broken glass is exchanged for one kilo of rice, while
one sack of biodegradable trash is worth one can of sardines. These items
must be submitted in "ready-for-recycling" state, that is, washed
and cleaned.
A young resident of Malabuyoc learns early
in life to value a clean and healthy environment.
When the campaign was launched in a single barangay, Looc, in time for
the 13th Annual International Coastal Clean-up in September, more 100
kilos of trash was turned in, and more than a hundred kilos of rice was
also distributed. The campaign will continue on a regular basis, moving
from barangay to barangay, exchanging for certain types of garbage at
a time.
Mayor Lito Creus, the town's chief executive, is the scriptwriter of this
well-accepted game-scheme. "We needed something to motivate our constituents
to pick up after themselves - all the trash that was messing up the municipality
and eventually washed into the sea. We thought by offering something that
would address a basic need, we'd have an attractive alternative,"
he said.
The mayor's concern for the environment did not start only with Basura
o Bugas. The mayor is the prime mover of an eco-walk which takes municipal
employees through mountain trails. He said the eco-walk is a means for
his subordinates to literally flex their limbs. "It is also a chance
for them to get a bird's-eye view of their beloved town," he added.
The mayor is a self-declared lover of the sea "because I live on
the seaside and I have seen how garbage gets washed to the sea and deposited
back on the beach again." He noted that so many of his constituents
made a living out of fishing and that illegal methods were slowly taking
away his people's source of livelihood.
Malabuyoc has a population of 18,000, with six out of 14 barangays in
the coastal zone. Its once rich coastal waters are threatened by fine
mesh and cyanide fishers and commercial fishing boats operating within
the 15-kilometer municipal water boundaries.
"Being a fifth-class municipality, we are barely able to make ends
meet, much less run after illegal fishers. We may need to request the
assistance of other agencies like the Philippine Navy, the Philippine
Coast Guard and the Bantay Dagat Commission in the campaign against illegal
fishing," Creus said.
The town is also banking on the creation of the Tañon Strait Commission,
a multi-partite body that will oversee the protection of the Tañon
Strait. Malabuyoc is among the towns bordering the Tañon basin,
home of whales, dolphins and dugongs.
"We have to admit that the job of protecting the huge expanse of
sea before us is quite a huge one," the mayor, once a businessman,
said. "This is why we are quite fortunate that there are local government
units, like that of Bais City (on Negros island, the city facing Malabuyoc
across the Tañon Strait), and private businesses that are helping
us."
Malabuyoc
Mayor Crues (in striped shirt), shown here talking with a constituent,
wants other local governments to join his campaign.
Basura o Bugas is
supported by Southwestern Cement Corporation (SWCC), a private manufacturing
firm whose officer-in-charge, Tony Borinaga, works doggedly to accumulate
sacks of rice to distribute in the campaign. SWCC has yet to put up its
facilities in Malabuyoc, but it is already so interwoven in the municipal
social fabric. "We have a deep concern for the environment,"
Borinaga, who had a long career in the Department of Environment and Natural
Resources, stated. The concern is more than skin-deep. SWCC's Environmental
Monitoring Team, which is composed not only of company officials but also
of municipal authorities and the parish priest, has diligently met environmental
requirements since the company was issued its Environmental Compliance
Certificate in 1996.
The Environmental Monitoring Team is now in the thick of locating recycling
plants and junk buyers. Malabuyoc's "collectors" have held on
to the bags of plastics, bottles and cans waiting for the time when these
otherwise worthless pieces of junk would be put to good use.
Borinaga said SWCC is even exploring the possibility of having the materials
recycled for corporate Christmas giveaways.
Malabuyoc does not intend to keep Basura o Bugas within the confines of
its boundaries. Mayor Creus and Borinaga recently met with CRMP to explore
other avenues for increasing coastal resource management awareness in
the municipality.
"The local government will set aside funds to help sustain this campaign,"
the mayor said. He addedhat the message of the campaign will most likely
reach neighboring municipalities, and hopefully spread like wildfire,
as fast as it spread all over his own hometown.
"Basura
o Bugas" (Visayan) means, literally, to choose between garbage and
rice. The slogan was inspired by the popularity of two game shows, "Pera
o Bayong" (Money or Bag) and "Sa Pula, Sa Puti" (Red or White),
which ask contestants to choose between two "prizes", one of which
may not be worth much.
"Dinhi
sa amo sa Malabuyoc, hapsay ug himsog ang palibot" (Visayan) means
"Here in Malabuyoc, our environment is clean and healthy."
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