Garbage volume in Sinulog revelry goes down this year

ABOUT 113 tons of garbage were collected from this year’s Sinulog celebration, which is slightly lower than last year’s nearly 100 tons of trash.

Dionisio Gualiza, of the Department of Public Services said the lower garbage volume meant that the city residents learned to segregate their garbage.

This year’s garbage volume consisted mostly of plastic like Styrofoam, he said.

Gualiza said the volume of garbage was heavier last year because some of them were disposed of in canals, which were later flooded by heavy rains.

He said most of the waste this year were already segregated. The 113 tons of garbage was dumped in the shared landfill site in Consolacion town.

About four garbage trucks are deployed every day to deliver the city’s ’garbage to the Consolacion landfill facility. A crowd estimate in last Sunday’s Sinulog grand parade was placed at slightly more than a million by police.

“Now, people really take an effort to segregate their biodegradable and nonbiodegradable waste,” he said.

Fr. Tito Soquino, OSA, of the Basilica del Sto. Niño said environment-friendly products should also be introduced to the public  to further reduce the garbage volume.

Soquino also acknowledged the DPS’s fast response in cleaning up the city after the Sinulog revelry.

“We are in situation where all sectors of society must gather together and study ways on how to come up with an eco-friendly Sinulog celebration,” Soquino said. Reporter Candeze R. Mongaya