Maguindanao, DENR-ARMM intensify campaign on waste management

MAGUINDANAO, Philippines - The provincial government and the natural resources department of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) intensified anew a bilateral advocacy for community involvement in solid waste management.

Maguindanao Gov. Esmael Mangudadatu and Forester Kahal Kedtag, who is regional secretary of ARMM’s Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), revived the campaign on Friday in Buluan town.

Buluan is the capital town of Maguindanao, where solid waste management is being promoted vigorously by the office of Mangudadatu.

The event was sealed with Kedtag’s symbolic turnover to the governor of trash bins to be used in educating the local communities on proper segregation of biodegradable and non-biodegradable wastes as part of the ARMM government’s environment-protection thrust.

Kedtag said the chief executive of ARMM, Gov. Mujiv Hataman, supports the project extensively.

Friday’s engagement between Kedtag and Mangudadatu was one of the highlights of the week-long provincial Sagayan Festival, which will culminate on Sunday, February 14.

The yearly Sagayan Festival, pioneered in 2011 by Mangudadatu, aims to showcase the cultural-pluralism in Maguindanao, home to ethnic Maguindanaon Muslims, Christians and Lumad people.

The office of Mangudadatu and the ARMM government are cooperating in promoting concerted waste management by residents in Maguindanao’s 36 towns.

Kedtag said they will also distribute trash bins to the municipal governments in the province to maximize the involvement of local officials in disseminating the importance of waste management to their constituents.

Amir Mawallil, executive director of ARMM’s Bureau of Public Information, said they will complement the project with regular plugs in their radio programs across the region.

Mawallil said the protection of the environment and the ARMM’s forestlands and watersheds is a major concern for the Hataman administration.