City's cleanup drive resumes today with 500-man cleaners

CEBU, Philippines — The Cebu City government had just finished its first quarterly city-wide cleanup drive over the weekend.

However, the area where the Badjao community in Sitio Alaska, Barangay Mambaling needed more time and manpower to clear everything up from garbage.

With this, Mayor Raymond Garcia has ordered at least 500 City Hall employees to do the job today, March 20.

Full force adto mo didto. Bisan pa g 1,000 mo ka tawo, grabe gyud kaayo ang kahugaw, labi na didto sa nasunogan. So, I m directing Poloy to do so within the week so that makit-an nato nga malimpyo na didtong dapita, Garcia said during a flag-raising ceremony at the City Hall on Monday.

The employees tasked to do the clean-up are coming from different offices, including from the Department of Public Services (DPS) along with the Cebu City Environmental Sanitation Enforcement Team (CESET); Barangay Environment Officers (BEO); Department of Engineering and Public Works and the Cebu City Environment and Natural Resources Office (CCENRO).

By Thursday, 6 clock in the morning, among tirahan dayon. Magdala mi didto og total nga 500 personnel to clean the area, John Paul Poloy Gelasque, DPS head, said through the City s Public Infirmation Office.

Aside from the City Hall personnel, Akhmad Muhammad, the chieftain of the Sama Community in Sitio Alaska also committed that his group will help in today s activity.

Akhmad, however, clarified that the huge pile of garbage that are found in their area is not from the Badjaos, but were reportedly mostly coming from the highlands.

Meanwhile, the 19th Citywide clean-up challenge that was spearheaded by Vice Mayor Donaldo Hontiveros collected 62.4metric tons of mixed waste last Saturday.

More garbage was collected compared to the 18th edition set last December but lower than the same period last year.

The first quarterly clean-up drive last year had 84 tons while in the last quarter of 2024, the collected garbage had close to 50 tons.

Majority of the garbage collected was from Sitio Mahayahay in Barangay Pasil, which reportedly came from the Guadalupe River. — /JG (FREEMAN)