Marcos to monitor Kalinisan program

MANILA, Philippines — President Marcos yesterday vowed to monitor efforts to maintain cleanliness in barangays and assess the performance of village councils on the implementation of their cleanup drives.

In a Facebook post, Marcos thanked those who participated in the recently concluded Community Development Day, which saw the national government, barangay officials and youth councils embarking on a nationwide cleanup program.

“We will ensure that cleanliness and orderliness in every barangay will continue. The performance of the barangay council will be assessed and we will recognize those who displayed outstanding performance,” Marcos said.

“Most of all, the orderliness and cleanliness of every barangay will be closely monitored by your President,” he added.

Launched last Saturday, the Kalinisan sa Bagong Pilipinas program aims to create awareness on environmental responsibility and encourage investments in solid waste management initiatives and ecological practices.

The cleanup drive focused on streets, canals, other waterways, public markets, schools and public parks.

More than 5.1 million kilos of trash have been collected since the cleanup program started, according to Interior Secretary Benjamin Abalos Jr.

Marcos directed agencies to include cleanliness in the list of performance guarantees of local governments and provide incentives to those who exhibited outstanding performance in cleanliness, the Gulayan sa Barangay nationwide contest, the use of motor vehicle user’s charge for the lighting of streets, the campaign against single-use plastic and regulation of the use of tarpaulins.