Daanbantayan did not disappoint!

With support from Toyo University CeSDeS (Center for Sustainable Development Studies), we proceeded to Daanbantayan to do a quick research from February 22-26 to learn about the waste management initiatives in various ecosystems (town proper/farm/coastal community) and to link with stakeholders re online Ecoschool waste management training for youths/households in various ecosystems.

First, we visited the DiaCor Leisure Farm owned by the family of our former UP Cebu Chancellor, Atty. Liza Corro and her siblings. The mango/other trees in this 16-hectare farm were mostly destroyed during Typhoon Yolanda/Haiyan.

The DiaCor story is one filled with hope/faith/creativity that disaster-devastated farms can be restored and can move on sustainably. The Corro family considers the farm as a place where love (Corazon) reigns every day (DIA).

The Corro clan decided to allow Mother Nature to take its own time and course in restoring the trees and other creatures in their former mango farm.

Now, low-growing guava trees are providing delicious fruit and delight to guava lovers and pickers! A number of mango trees have also started to grow, along with other local trees/plants. The resilient bamboos that survived the deadly Typhoon Yolanda now provide a quiet, cool bamboo grove as well as wood for cottages/furniture for the leisure farm.

Growing natural grass that turned the former mango plantation into a vast/green leisure farm, guests can enjoy walking, exercising, biking, doing sports while communing with nature or interacting with farm animals (carabaos/cows/turkeys/chickens, others). There are nearby hills for climbing.

Stations of the Cross, a chapel and a big cross await the healthy climbers who successfully hurdle 200 use-friendly steps!

To ensure the sustainability of the farm which the Corro clan decided to share with those who want to experience quiet/restful farm life amidst nature’s beautiful setting, waste segregation is strictly practiced, with designated bins for plastics, with empty plastic water containers/old bottles used as herbal/vegetable garden liners and kitchen/biowastes as compost and fertilizer. Residuals are collected by the local government garbage trucks.

The Red Cross Evacuation Community located at the entrance of DiaCor on a land area donated by the Corro Family to Typhoon Yolanda victims is, however, a challenging work in progress for effective/responsible waste management.

Their experience is a lesson for future post-disaster evacuation areas: that evacuees will need to be socially prepared/oriented before transferred to their post-typhoon homes/communities.

Disaster victims need to be oriented to waste segregation and options for maximizing the benefits, rather than the harm, caused by unmanaged/unsegregated waste. All evacuation/relocation areas should have space for composting and segregated wastes, mini material recycling center (MRF), rain water harvesting facilities, etc. that can provide the evacuees/relocatees sustainable food supply from compost gardens, rain water supply, livelihood options from waste and more.

Daanbantayan had more valuable lessons/insights to share.

We would like to sincerely thank Mayor Sun Shimura and Councilor Gilbert Arabis Jr. for referring us to Sir Mamerto “Mitong” Rodrigo, Municipal Administrator-Designate/Department Head, MENRO (Municipal Environment and Natural Resources Office) who arranged our field visits/interviews with his team/“angels”- Jonette Mendel Conejos, SWM Focal, Dareen Augusto and Dhonna Mae  Cayanong, Admin/IT personnel, respectively.

The MENRO team guided us first to a farm up in a beautiful hill of Barangay Bakhawan. Here, active women residents demonstrated how they made eco-bricks from plastic wastes (wrappers/sachets/ others)!

They happily shared that for every kilo of eco-bricks produced from cleaned/dried plastic wastes, Daanbantayan’s MENRO swaps this with a kilo of good quality Sinandomeng rice or three hollow blocks (made from crushed old bottles mixed with cement)!

Way to go and congratulations to Sir Mitong/MENRO/LGU Daanbantayan, for sharing this beautiful/effective plastic waste diversion initiative: swapping rice/hollow blocks for ecobricks used as concrete bench/walls/riprap/plantbox/landscaping and more!

A very creative Daanbantayan-style of rice/hollow-block-ayuda responding to hunger/homelessness/poverty/global warming through inclusive waste management participation! (To be continued)