Located in the municipality of Santa Maria, San Gabriel’s population as determined by the 2020 Census was 9,630. This represented 3.32% of the total population of Santa Maria.
My family has witnessed how Barangay San Gabriel changed and developed for the past 20 years. Throughout those years, we have encountered several community problems. Just recently, we received a letter of Barangay Ordinance No. 87 S. 2019 or “Barangay Solid Waste Management of Barangay San Gabriel” wherein it stated on the letter that all subjects in the ordinance are encouraged to separate their waste into three: Biodegradable, Non-Biodegradable and Residual Waste. If not, the waste will no longer be collected on the scheduled garbage collection day.
Solid Waste Management has always been the problem of every community. After conducting a survey around the neighborhood, it is not hard to identify the community problems that need to be addressed in our barangay. Among 5 respondents, 100% were only concerned about the waste disposal.
One of the respondent said, “Naranasan kong maipatawag sa barangay noon dahil sa basura na yan. Kaya simula noon, talagang hinihiwalay ko na yung mga basura ng pamilya namin.”
Another respondent talked about stubborn neighbors that always forgot to separate their wastes. She said, “Ang hirap lalo na kung may pasaway ka na kapitbahay na kahit ilang beses mong pagsabihan, hindi pa din talaga ipagbubukod-bukod yung basura nila. Kaya kung minsan, hindi talaga kinokolekta yung basura sa apartment namin”
After analyzing the survey, I concluded that it is in the hands of the people in the community for problems like solid waste management to be solved. About 35,580 tons of garbage is generated every day in the Philippines. On the average, each person in the country produces about 0.5 kg and 0.3 kg of garbage every day in the urban and rural areas.
As a resident of our community and a citizen of our country, we should take responsibility for our own garbage. Practicing proper solid waste management is already a big help to the cleanliness program of our community.
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