TACLOBAN CITY- As the city’s Sanitary Landfill (SLF) in Barangay San Roque is about to reach its full capacity after less than a year of operation, the city government under Mayor Alfred S. Romualdez has urged barangay leaders to support the waste segregation efforts of the local government to minimize the volume of garbage generated in the city.
According to the Officer-in-Charge of the City General Services Office (CGSO) Engr. Leoncio Parado II, barangay chiefs should set a good example to their constituency regarding garbage management.
“They should conduct intensive monitoring for they already knew it (garbage segregation) since then. Anyway, it’s one way to ensure the participation of their constituents in the proper disposal of their wastes,” he emphasized.
“We already had this ordinance on Solid Waste Management (City Ordinance 2017-13-37), so I guess there’s no reason not to implement it in their respective barangays,” he added.
Meantime, Parado clarified that the delays in the collection of garbage in the past days were due to the expiration of contracts of the three service collectors.
The local government is set to renew the contract of two contractors within the month, while the third contractor will be replaced, the official said.

He also mentioned that while the contractors for this year will soon be finalized, residents are assured that the city’s sanitation will be maintained.
“As of now, we will not yet change the schedule for the collection of garbage. We will just follow last year’s schedule to avoid conflict,” Parado added.
Meanwhile, the CGSO, City Engineers Office (CEO), and City Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO) have joined forces to do the collection of the uncollected trash in some parts of the city, which was aggravated by the onslaught of Typhoon ‘Ursula’ last December.
“We should help one another in implementing waste segregation and maintaining the cleanliness of our surroundings. Otherwise, our sanitary landfill will suffer once it reaches its capacity,” he concluded.
Meantime, those who carelessly dispose their waste may face the following penalties under the Solid Waste Management Ordinance of the city: first offense – a fine of P300 or render community service for 1 day; second offense – A fine of P1,000 or render community service for two days; and third and subsequent offense, a fine of P3,000 or render community service for not less than three days.
As of December 2019, a minimum of 120 tons of trash are generated in Tacloban City daily. –
(C. MERIN/CIO)

TACLOBAN CITY — The national government has approved a P1.03-billion fund to finance the construction of roads leading to tourist destinations in Eastern Visayas in 2020, more than double than last year’s allocation.
The Tourism Road Infrastructure Program (TRIP) will provide funding to 29 new and ongoing road projects in the bid to improve access to identified tourism sites, said Department of Tourism Regional Director Karina Rosa Tiopes on Wednesday.
This year’s funding is higher than the P499 million spent for TRIP in 2019 with 17 listed projects.
“The impact was not just about improved accessibility of tourist to the destination, but making the lives of locals better. It generates more income to people in the communities,” Tiopes said.
The projects include access road leading to Talustusan Falls in Naval, Ulan-Ulan and Bagongbong Falls in Almeria, all in Biliran province; the road to Borongan-Llorente closed-canopy forest area in Maydolong, Eastern Samar; Coastal Boulevard road in Catarman, circumferential road in Capul, and road leading to Pinipisakan Falls in Las Navas in Northern Samar.
In Leyte province, these projects are access roads leading to MacArthur Landing Memorial Park in Palo, diving site in Capoocan, Buga-Buga Hills in Villaba, Lake Danao in Ormoc City, Masaba Falls in Palompon, Shrine of St. Anthony de Padua in Baybay City, Lintaon Peak in Baybay City, and Malaguicay Falls in Abuyog.
Also funded this year are roads leading to Mapaso Hot Spring in Calbayog City, Lulugayan Falls in Calbiga, Balantak Falls in Basey, Catbalogan City Circumferential Road, Rock Islet in Daram, all in Samar province; access roads to Taglinao Falls in San Francisco, Anas view deck in Padre Burgos, bird sanctuary and mangrove site in Saint Bernard, Crater Lake in San Juan, Fatima Hills in Macrohon, Guinsaugon Lake in Saint Bernard, Ollies wall dive site in Liloan, and Limasawa circumferential road, all in Southern Leyte province.
“Most of these destinations are located in upland communities, which will not just boost tourism, but transport of agriculture products to the town center,” Tiopes added.
Launched in 2012, the project, which is a convergence of DOT and the Department of Public Works and Highways has three stages of prioritization criteria — prequalification, prioritization, and readiness.
Under prequalification, priority for funding are those projects with a development map, whose location is within 60 kilometers or less from a tourism gateway, a concept study and a record of consultation with at least one stakeholder group, endorsed by the Regional Development Council.
In the prioritization stage, highly considered are road projects with nearby accommodation facilities, pre-feasibility study, preliminary engineering design, and concept study. This phase also looks into tourist traffic in the area.
A road project is considered ready for implementation if it is supported by technical road readiness documents to be evaluated and scored by the DPWH. It must also have undergone a series of consultations involving key stakeholders from the private and government sectors.
(SARWELL Q.MENIANO/PNA)