EDITORIAL — Only with good and consistent enforcement

Frustrated by recurring offenses of littering, illegal dumping, and similar activities giving rise to flooding problems, Cebu City Councilor Joel Garganera is mulling meting out higher fines for violators of garbage-related laws in the city.

“Sige ta’g panglimpyo…more than the act itself, atong gi-display sa katawhan og unsa ka importante ang pagpanglimpyo sa atong kalikupan, sa atong palibot… On the other hand, maayo pung mangampanya pud ta nga di na maghugawhugaw,” he said during the kick-off of the 16th Citywide Clean-up Challenge at the South Road Properties last Saturday.

Garganera is after something we all want; a clean city that we can be proud of, a city that doesn’t see flood problems whenever it rains because its drainage has become clogged by garbage that isn’t supposed to be there. More importantly, he wants people who don’t have to be told what to do when it comes to properly disposing of garbage.

Increasing fines from the current ?500 to ?2,000 range, depending on the offense, might actually work.

However, this can only be a threat to litterbugs if it can be enforced. We can’t fine people for littering unless we can catch them in the act of doing so. Is the city ready to field personnel to keep an eye on people in the street if they litter? On every street?

It’s not just random littering. Garbage segregation will not work if scavengers pick apart the garbage bags in the designated dumping areas, or when collectors decide to mix all types of garbage anyway because segregating isn’t really part of their job.

Is the city ready to compel the barangays to post people to watch garbage collection areas? Or to compel collectors to follow segregation rules?

We still say the fastest way to change an attitude --in this case our attitude of uncleanliness-- is to have good examples. And the threat of higher fines for garbage-related offenses may be one way, though not the best, to force people to set good examples.

But like said above, this will only work if there is good and consistent enforcement.