Tulong Kapatid aids Quezon City waste management teams

MANILA, Philippines — Tulong Kapatid, the alliance of foundations and companies in the MVP Group, turned over face shields, grocery packs, bread, and bottled water to various waste management providers of the local government unit of Quezon City.

Municipal waste management teams are generally made up of the city’s garbage collectors, pickers, river waste management and street sweepers who continuously serve as frontliners for the community and for the environment.

The city government of Quezon City is the largest and most populous area in Metro Manila and has placed 34 barangays under "extreme enhanced community quarantine" due to higher risk of the coronavirus disease 2019 or COVID-19 transmission. This has significantly increased generated household waste during the quarantine period since most people are staying home. 

In 2019, Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte signed Executive Order No. 3 which formally created the Task Force on Solid Waste Collection, Cleaning, and Disposal Services Management.  Recently, Belmonte ordered the Task Force on Solid Waste Management (TFSWM) to mandate all city-contracted service providers to supply their waste collection personnel with the necessary personal protective equipment (PPE) such as face masks, face shields and hand gloves which will be part of their regular uniform. This is in anticipation of what will be the “new normal” and ensure that the risk from exposure to viral and microbial diseases can be minimized.

For this effort, around 500 Quezon City Waste Management enforcers will receive 300 face shields, and 500 food bags containing canned goods, coffee, rice, Sari Roti breads, Kopiko and bottled water. The companies and foundations that participated in the turnover were Metro Pacific Investments Foundation, One Meralco Foundation, PLDT-Smart Foundation, Maynilad and Alagang Kapatid Foundation of TV5.