Davao City’s Informal Waste Workers Seek Safe and Secure Jobs
Informal waste workers of Davao City
At a forum organized by the Quezon City-based EcoWaste Coalition and held at San Pedro
College
“We support the aspirations of the IWS in Davao City
“The presence of concerned government officials at this forum, we hope, will
lead to the delivery of beneficial programs and services that the IWS deserves
as an undisputed partner of the society in waste resource management and
conservation,” she added.
Present at the forum were Erlinda Javines of the City Environment and Natural
Resources Office (CENRO), Angelic Paña of the Presidential Commission for the
Urban Poor (PCUP), and Mimia Canja of the Department of Social Welfare and
Development in Region XI.
As defined in the National Framework and
Strategy on the Role of the Informal Sector in Waste Management, the IWS
includes “individuals,
families, groups or small enterprises engaged in the recovery of waste
materials either on a full-time or part-time basis with revenue generation as
the motivation.”
Itinerant waste buyers, paleros (garbage trucks crew), ‘jumpers’ (those who
jump into collection trucks to recover recyclables), waste pickers in dumpsites
and communal waste collection points, informal waste collectors, waste
reclaimers and small junkshop dealers constitute the IWS.
According to the
National Solid Waste Management Commission, “the Framework Plan hopes to empower the IWS that is
recognized as a partner of the public and private institutions, organizations
and corporations in the promotion and implementation of the 3Rs (reduce, reuse
and recycle) of solid waste management in the Philippines with the end in view
of alleviating poverty.”
“The need to protect the IWS from being exposed to hazardous substances and
pathogens should induce the city authorities and all waste generators to ensure
that discards are properly segregated at source,” noted Thony Dizon, Chemical
Safety Campaigner, EcoWaste Coalition.
Republic Act 9003, or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act, as well as Ordinance
0361-10, or the Davao City Ecological Solid Waste Management Ordinance of 2009,
require the mandatory segregation
of waste at the point of generation.
The group likewise reiterated that waste disposal projects such as the planned
waste incinerator in Davao City should be reconsidered as this will burn
resources that can be reused, recycled or composted and subsequently steal
valuable jobs from marginalized groups such as the IWS.
-end-
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