WMSU President inspires students during an IEC campaign organized by the MSG
“The future is in your hands.” That was the core of the inspirational message given by Dr. Milabel E. Ho, WMSU President, as she urged the students and faculty of the University to take up the responsibility of environmental protection during an IEC campaign of the Multi-sectoral Group (MSG) of the Tumaga River WQMA Governing Board on November 13, 2018. She went on to thank the MSG members present for partnering with the University. Dr. Ho declared that the University is one that pursues the protection of the environment and is an eco-friendly university. She stated that the protection of the environment should be the concern and responsibility of all.
The IEC campaign was held to increase the awareness of the participants on solid waste management and environmental sanitation and for them to be agents in disseminating the same information to the public. The activity, held at the Social Hall of WMSU, was conducted in collaboration with WMSU particularly with the Department of Environmental Engineering.
Ms. Emma S. Alipala was present to lecture on the important provisions of the Zamboanga City Solid Waste Management Ordinance of 2016 (Ordinance No. 176). She introduced to the participants the City Solid Waste Management Plan and highlighted the importance of waste segregation at source as mandated in the Ordinance. The Barangay Solid Waste Management Committee, she said, is tasked to monitor the daily collection and disposal of solid waste and responsible in collecting biodegradable and recyclable wastes. She stressed that when the time comes when the Ordinance is fully being implemented, only residual wastes will be collected by the City Collection System. She emphasized the “no segregation, no collection” policy under the Ordinance and the policy that no solid waste will be placed outside after the hour of collection.
Following the lecture on the Ordinance, a presentation on waste segregation in accordance to RA 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000 was given by Ms. April Joy Balani, a 5th year BS Environmental Engineering student. She discussed how to use the right bin for segregated wastes such as using color-coded bins as well as signages, logos and labels. She mentioned that under RA 9003, Article 2, Section 21, segregation of solid waste is mandatory, provided, that the segregation of wastes shall be primarily conducted at the source, to include household, institutional, industrial, commercial and agricultural sources.
The next speaker, Ms. Ainee Tabiano, also a 5th year BSEnE student, lectured on backyard composting. She enumerated the steps on how to conduct composting at home. The most common problem in composting, she said, is unpleasant, strong odors which are caused by lack of oxygen in the compost due to overloading with food waste so that the food sits around too long, and the bin contents become too wet. The lecturer said that the solution is to stop adding food waste until the worms and microorganisms have broken down what food is in there, and to gently stir up the entire contents to allow more air in.
Dr. Jihan H. Adil, Environmental Engineering Department Head and SEEP President, informed the participants on the importance of onsite sanitation in water quality management, sustainable development goals, and sanitation status of Zamboanga City. Based on 2015 World Health Organization (WHO) data, she said that only 39% of the global population use a safely managed sanitation system despite the fact that technology and information on engineering and science is universally available. Dr. Adil stressed that it is not enough that people have comfort rooms but wastes coming from these facilities must be treated before disposal to the environment especially in highly urbanized and populated areas.
The last lecturer was Mr. Marty Lawrence Antatico, EMB IX technical staff. Mr. Antatico apprised the audience on how to prepare Bokashi or mud balls for bioremediation of water bodies. He mentioned that the mud balls are also referred to as EM mud balls since they are made from Effective Microorganisms (EM) solution. This microbial solution encourages the growth of naturally occurring and beneficial microorganisms. He said that EM mud balls have been used to reduce pollutants and odor in waterways and septic tanks.
During the open forum, the participants were informed that pilot testing of the mud balls is being conducted in waterways in Region IX under the Adopt-an-Estero / Water body Program and the students were encouraged to conduct further studies and research on the effectivity of the EM mud balls.
