San Antonio in Bagac town and Lote Puerto Rivas in the City of Balanga topped the Barangay Environmental Compliance Audit (BECA) in Bataan.
BECA is an initiative under the Manila Bay Clean-up, Preservation and Rehabilitation Program that grants economic incentives and assesses the compliance of barangays to the pertinent provisions of Republic Act 9003, otherwise known as Ecological Solid Waste Management Act.
Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Provincial Director Belina Herman said that by awarding barangays with recognition for their efforts, barangays will be motivated to actively participate and promote further innovations in the field of solid waste management.
Indicators in identifying the top performing barangays for BECA include existence of Barangay Solid Waste Management Committee (BSWMC), functionality of BSWMC, existence of the Barangay Solid Waste Management Action Plan/Program, and barangay ordinance on “No Segregation, No Collection”.
Also included is percentage of households that practice segregation, ordinance on the “No Littering, Illegal Dumping and Open Burning”, and existence of functional Barangay Material Recovery Facility.
San Antonio and Lote Puerto Rivas are Bataan’s bets in the municipal and city category, respectively in the regional assessment.
They will likewise receive P30,000 each for their proposed environmental projects.
Colo in Dinalupihan ranked second in the municipal category, while East Daang Bago in Samal finished third.
Other winners in the city category, on the other hand, were Cabog-Cabog and Sibacan in Balanga who ended second and third, respectively.
Winners were selected by the Provincial Assessment Committee composed of representatives from DILG, Department of Environment and Natural Resources- Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office, Provincial Government-Bataan Environment and Natural Resources Office, Bataan Peninsula State University- Research and Innovation Center on Climate Change, and Philippine Information Agency. (CLJD/RPQ-PIA 3)