First PHIL-UEMA incorporators’ meet

The Philippines is aggressively gearing towards a sustainable management of its environment through its human capital resource as incorporators of the PHIL-UEMA, the Philippine Urban Environmental Management Application joined hands to form the network of environment champions.

Taking off from the initial meeting last September 9, 2009, at the Local Government Academy Commitment Room, the members discussed the possibility of incorporating seven (7) environmental sectors, which are: 1. Solid Waste; 2. Air Quality; 3. Disaster Risk Management; 4. Water; 5. Sanitation; 6. Renewable Energy; 7. Climate Change. All sector representatives believed there should be opportunities for knowledge exchange within the network, to keep the country’s efforts abreast on the regional and national environmental concerns.

The network would be formalized and to be registered at the Securities and Exchange Commission upon the approval of its charter. This network is envisioned to congregate diverse efforts of the different environmental sector networks in the country.

Consultation and Validation Workshop on the Review of RA 9003

Sorsogon Provincial Governor Sally Lee passionately urges her functionaries to be active in protecting the environment.

The Philippines is strengthening its drive on the implementation of the Republic Act 9003, otherwise known as the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act.

Under the Policy Advocacy component of the SEA-UEMA Project, a Consultation and Validation workshop on the review of the RA 9003 for the planned Omnibus Revision of the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act was held on July 29, 2009, at the Province of Sorsogon, Dr. Edsel E. Sajor of the Asian Institute of Technology, led the team from the La Salle Institute of Governance, De La Salle University – Manila, and the Local Government Academy (LGA) in facilitating the workshop.

Dr. Edsel Sajor of AIT, stresses his point during the consultation and Validation workshop at the Provincial Capitol Building, province of Sorsogon.

The workshop stressed some provisions in RA 9003 which needed to be amended. Some points being emphasized are the reactivation of the Solid Waste Management Board; undergoing the Social Transformation Environmental Training; reduction of waste at the source; massive setting up of Material Recovery Facilities; Utilization of the Waste Analysis and Characterization Study (WACS) in developing policy support for the implementation of the RA 9003; among other things. The outputs of the workshop would be valuable inputs to the proposed Omnibus Revision of the RA 9003 to be sponsored at the Senate of the Philippines, by Sen. Loren Legarda.

The members of the panel from the, La Salle Institute of Governance De La Salle University – Manila, Local Government Academy, Asian Institute of Governance, and the Provincial Government of Sorsogon, listen intently to the participants of the Consultative & validation workshop for the Review of the Ra 9003.

The activity was followed immediately with a site visitation to the Material Recovery Facilities in the flagship Barangays. The Project Management Team noted some social preparation which the local communities should undertake in the implementation of the RA 9003, specifically the establishment of MRFs in the barangays.

Punong Barangay Nicanor L. Alamer discusses the benefits of his Barangay’s Material Recovery Facility to the members of the Technical Working Group during the site visitation.

Women Take Greater Role in Recycling Business in the Philippines

 

Ms. Pugata Managing Junkshop           

The case of Belen Pugata, an officer of the Junkshop Operator’s Association in Cavite, Philippines represents how women have become more actively involved in managing recyclable materials in the country. Ms. Pugata has a degree in accounting and keeps a day job as a bookkeeper in a private company. In her free time she manages a junkshop business that she co-owns with her husband. 

Both husband and wife share their task equally. Her husband finds sources of recyclables materials, acts as a go-between with potential buyers and manages the daily operations of the shop. Ms. Pugata, on the other hand, takes care of the books and paper works before going to work and during weekends. She learned the intricacies of the junk shop business through her brother who is also a junkshop owner.

 Junkshops in the Philippines are usually family-run businesses that buy recyclable materials from the local community and consolidate these for re-selling to larger operators. In Ms. Pugata’s case, their junkshop business is attached to the family home. Although this can reduce operational cost, it also carries risks such as noise pollution to the household. As a woman working in a mostly male-dominated business, Ms. Pugata also said she is vulnerable to verbal abuse by irate

Ms. Pugata Weighing Junk Materials

customers. However, this does not stop her from continuing with the family business and says that she copes by learning better customer relations skills. Aside from handling the finances and paper work, Ms. Pugata also uses networking to expand her business. In 2008, she and her husband managed to bag a contract with the Department of Education office that allowed her company to bid for the scrap materials left from the demolition of the agency’s local office.

 

Ms. Pugata says that her involvement in the junkshop business empowers her because she plays a major role in its sustainability and profitability. She is also confident because she has the capacity to make decisions in the business. Based on her knowledge and experience in the junkshop business she says that developing and having confidence means having a personal vision and believing in ones self. 

Improved Kitchen Design Benefits Food Micro-Entrepreneurs in Metro Manila

 

Traditional Home Made Kitchen

Danny and Amparo Riyo own a small restaurant or carinderia in a busy residential village Quezon City – one of Metro Manila’s largest municipalities. They use a kerosene-fueled stove that releases fumes and smoke every time they cook the six dishes that they serve in their carinderia every day. The couple often have to inhale the fumes because their kitchen does not have any ventilation mechanism that would let out the gas from the stove out of their restaurant.

Salve Calimlim, a candy maker living in the same city as the Riyos, also has the same problem. Ms. Calimlim uses her home kitchen to make candies for sale and usually ends up inhaling the fumes coming from her candy making activities. This is because her kitchen is not designed to accommodate any commercial food preparation activities and does not have any mechanism to release the fumes from the stove outside her house.

Improved Kitchen Stove and Protect the Health of FMEs

The Riyos and Ms. Calimlin are only two of the over 300,000 food micro-entrepreneurs (FMEs) in Metro Manila who must face the challenge of using the least cost kitchen technology to support their food businesses while also ensuring that indoor air pollution coming from their cooking activities does not endanger their health.

Recognizing the problem faced by these FMEs, the SEA-UEMA Project and the Philippine-based Approtech Asia implemented a demonstration project that showed how an improved kitchen design can improve indoor air quality, mitigate climate change, protect the health of FMEs and reduce poverty. The improved kitchen design, which can be used in individual kitchens or in a large common kitchen for more than five FMEs, includes an energy efficient cook stove as well as clean water, lighting, sanitation and ventilation facilities. At the heart of the improved kitchen design project is an energy efficient cook stove called “Mabaga.” This stove costs P600 or roughly USD 13 each and uses inexpensive alternative fuels such as charcoal briquettes. The stove cooks faster and results in 30 to 70% reduction in cooking fuel expenses. Moreover, according to Approtech it saves approximately 1 ton of carbon if used for a year compared to using kerosene stoves.

Aside from the physical design of the kitchen, Approtech also links with micro-finance institutions to help FMEs access funds so that they can avail of the improved kitchen design. Savings generated from the reduced fuel costs have added to the FMEs capital base and encouraged them to expand their business. According to Bernadett Parado, Approtech Asia project coordinator, the expanding food business also encouraged the husbands of women FMEs to join them in the business instead of working as hired laborer far from their residence hence, enhancing family solidarity and allowing both parents raise their children at home.

Using Mabaga Charcoal Cookstove at the Local Market

Since food micro-business in the Philippines is largely a family enterprise mostly managed by women, the improved kitchen design, coupled with financing and food technology inputs have also inspired other women in the community to start food selling or expand their existing food business for additional income.

With the improved kitchen design, Danny and Amparo Riyo do not have to inhale fumes from their cooking activities and they can now handle more orders since they find it easier to make food preparations. They have also fixed the canal under their kitchen to improve wastewater and sanitation flow. On the other hand, the new kitchen design has helped Ms. Calimlim cook more candies, eliminated the fumes from cooking and helped her save money from the reduced fuel expenses.

Policy Dialog

No.	Policy dialog/Location		Date
1	Policy Dialog on Ecological Solid Waste Management in the Philippines, Metro Manila, Philippines. Coorganizer: The Local Government Academy, Philippines.		16 Oct. 2007