Manila Water pays tribute to desludging achievers, outstanding green programs

Mandaluyong City’s Palit Basura Project wins the top prize in Manila Water’s Kampeon ng Kalikasan as the company marked the 10th year of its Toka Toka advocacy. The winning program highlights the community’s sustainable environmental program that protects our waterways from further pollution. Photo from Manila Water

MANILA, Philippines — Manila Water honored three outstanding environmental programs and 84 barangays within the East Zone concession area that have reached and/or exceeded desludging targets for 2021 as the company marked the 10th year of its “Toka Toka Para Sa Malinis na Ilog” or “Toka Toka” advocacy.

As the first and only environmental movement focused on wastewater management which began in 2012, Toka Toka aims to educate, engage, and influence the public to do its share or ‘Toka’ to clean our waterways by connecting to existing sewer lines, availing of desludging services, practicing proper solid waste management, and participating in various sewerage and sanitation programs.

To strengthen the goal of sustaining the movement to keep our waterways clean, Manila Water partnered with various national government agencies and all local governments under its concession area. The agreement signifies that the partners will support the desludging service of Manila Water as well as implement environmental and sustainability programs within their respective communities.

READ: MWC takes on clean water challenge

Top environment programs cited

To celebrate Toka Toka’s 10th-year milestone, three environmental programs were cited as the top Ka-Toka ng Kalikasan awardees for the successful implementation of sustainable environmental programs in their respective communities.

From several entries received from the East Zone, as well as from Laguna, Clark, Pampanga, and Pangasinan, the 3rd Placer is DENR Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office in Pampanga with their Greening Program with Clark Water. Copping the 2nd spot is Barangay Rembo in Makati City for their Various Waste Management Programs, and the Ka-Toka ng Kalikasan Grand Awardee is Barangay Addition Hills in Mandaluyong City for their Palit Basura Project.

Barangay Addition Hills Captain and program lead Hon. Carlito Cernal said that “…the aim of the Palit Basura Project is to increase the quality of the environment they are living in Mandaluyong with the help of his constituents…” He also added that “…the incentives they are giving in exchange for his constituent’s collected trash is relatively smaller compared to the impact it brings to the environment.” He also thanked Manila Water for featuring their efforts, and he hopes that many will be inspired to implement the same in their respective agencies.

Manila Water cites 84 barangays in its East Zone concession area for achieving their desludging targets for 2021. Septic tank siphoning is done every 5 years to avoid overflows that may contaminate groundwater and pollute existing waterways. Manila Water provides this service at no additional cost. Photo from Manila Water

Desludging achievers

Outstanding barangays who have achieved their desludging targets for 2021 were also honored as Gawad Ka-Toka Achievers for desludging. There were three (3) categories namely Sapa (Creek), for barangays with 1-1000 septic tanks; Ilog (River) which consists of barangays with 1001-2000 septic tanks; and Dagat (Sea/Ocean) for those barangays with 2001-up septic tanks in their jurisdiction. Overall, there are 84 Barangay Achievers and eight (8) Top Performing Barangays or those who have exceeded their targets that were recognized this year.

Sapa Barangay Achievers included barangays in Rizal Province: Barangays Bagong Nayon, Sta. Cruz, and San Luis in Antipolo City; Barangay San Jose in Baras; Barangays Pagkalinawan and Punta in Jalajala; San Guillermo in Morong; San Gabriel in Teresa; Barangay Rosario in Rodriguez; Barangays Guinayang, Maly, Rosario, and Sto. Niño in San Mateo; Barangays San Isidro and San Roque in Angono; and Barangays Layunan, Libid, and Tayuman in Binangonan.

READ: Manila Water releases desludging schedule for the month of September

Barangay Achievers under Sapa category from the National Capital Region included Barangays 807, 813, 815, 818, 819, and 888 in Manila; Barangays Halo-Halo, Isabelita, Onse, Corazon de Jesus, Maytunas, and Salapan in San Juan City; Barangays Bagong Lipunan ng Crame, Batasan Hills, Camp Aguinaldo, Culiat, Dioquino Zobel, Holy Spirit, Immaculate Concepcion, Kalusugan, Kaunlaran, Libis, Loyola Heights, Matandang Balara, Nayong Kaunlaran, Obrero, Paligsahan, Pinagkaisahan, Pinyahan, Ramon Magsaysay, Saint Ignatius, Santa Cruz, Santo Cristo, Socorro, Tandang Sora, Ugong Norte, and Valencia in Quezon City; Barangay Martires del 96 in Pateros; Barangays Bagumbayan, Central Signal Village, Hagonoy, Katuparan, Maharlika Village, Santa Ana, and Western Bicutan in Taguig City; Barangays East Rembo and Rizal in Makati City; Barangays Buting, Kalawaan, San Joaquin, Caniogan, Maybunga, Orando, and Palatiw in Pasig City.

Recognized as Top Performing Barangays in the same category are Barangays Alicia, Bagumbayan, and Pasong Tamo in Quezon City, Barangay 804 in City of Manila, and Barangay Geronimo in Rodriguez, Rizal.

In Ilog category, joining in the roster of Barangay Achievers are Barangays Ampid I and Banaba in San Mateo and Barangay Pantok in Binangonan, both in Rizal Province; Barangay La Paz in Makati City; and Barangay Aguho in Pateros. The Top Performing Barangays in this category are Barangay Guitnang Bayan II in San Mateo and Barangay Tatala in Binangonan, both in Rizal Province.

For the Dagat category, the Barangay Achievers are Barangay San Jose in Rodriguez, Rizal; Barangay San Juan in Cainta, Rizal; and Barangay Rosario in Pasig City. The sole Top Performing Barangay in this category is Barangay Guitnang Bayan I in San Mateo, Rizal.

READ: MWSS: Many customers unaware of water firms’ deslugding service

Manila Water President and CEO Jocot de Dios shared that Manila Water continues to do its stake for the environment and invites customers and partners to do their share in taking care of the environment. De Dios emphasized that the environment is an important aspect of [Manila Water] water operations [particularly] the wastewater operations. The [reason why] we have Toka Advocacy is because we have our assigned task for the environment. We must do our commitments not just for the sustainability of our country, but also for its global impact.

He also added that the Toka Advocacy will continue to conceptualize more programs for the environment and will find more partners to exchange learnings in the hope of further cleaning the waterways in the country.

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