EDITORIAL — A ‘critical’ problem

He’s not yet calling it a “crisis” situation, but President Marcos says the country faces a “critical” garbage problem.

The President issued the statement while inspecting the garbage that accumulated at the Redemptorist Water Channel in Baclaran, Parañaque and a pumping station in Pasay City yesterday.

Days of incessant rains combined with a high tide damaged the trash flap at the mouth of the channel, allowing garbage from Manila Bay to flow in and clog drainage systems, according to Parañaque Mayor Edwin Olivarez.

The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority reported that 45 truckloads of garbage had been collected so far from the Redemptorist channel. Olivarez stressed that most of the trash washed inland from Manila Bay. He also noted that flooding in Parañaque now subsides faster because of measures implemented by the city government including river dredging and declogging of drainage systems.

Regardless of where the garbage came from, the problem has in fact been around for a long time.

Around Manila Bay, tons of garbage always wash ashore during the typhoon season, combining with the garbage accumulated in the creeks and rivers all over Mega Manila. Across the country, indiscriminate garbage dumping and inefficient garbage collection have been long-running problems particularly in highly urbanized centers.

A spillway from Laguna de Bay to Manila Bay is again being eyed, although this project has been under consideration for about two decades now. A flood wall is also being studied, although the national government appears cool to the idea.

In several areas, defective or even ghost flood control projects have aggravated flooding that has worsened amid extreme weather attributed to climate change.

President Marcos is now pushing for waste-to-energy schemes to deal with both the garbage and power situations, with the Malabon-Navotas area eyed for pilot operations. Singapore processes up to 90 percent of its garbage into electricity. The other top employers of WtE systems are China, Japan, Sweden and Denmark, with China operating the world’s largest WtE facilities.

Shifting to WtE will need legislation to amend prohibitions on garbage incineration. It will also take time and substantial investments before a WtE facility can be set up.

In the meantime, waste disposal habits must improve. That mountain of garbage would not have accumulated if people disposed of their trash properly, whether at home, in workplaces or in public spaces.

This must be complemented by the government with improved garbage collection. People dump trash indiscriminately because collection is inefficient and they don’t know where to put their garbage.