Part 5: Reclaiming the Barangay – A Manifesto for Bacolod
We have spent the last four publications dissecting the complex and often “dirty” world of waste management in our beloved Bacolod. We have followed the trail of the P437 million annual hauling budget, exposed the toxic and financial mirage of Waste-to-Energy (WTE), and championed the Garden Revolution as the true path to food security and environmental grace.
Now, we arrive at the most critical question: How do we take this city back?
The solution does not lie in waiting for a “messiah” in city hall to cancel a contract or for a miracle technology to save us. The solution lies in the smallest unit of our government—the Barangay. It is time for a manifesto of reclamation.
THE RETURN OF THE BESWMC
The Barangay Ecological Solid Waste Management Committee (BESWMC) is the most powerful weapon against corruption and waste that we currently possess, yet in many of our 61 barangays, it exists only on paper. This committee is mandated by RA 9003 to be the primary architect of a community’s cleanliness.
In this manifesto, we demand that the BESWMC be more than a list of names in a folder. It must be a living body of citizens—mothers, students, retirees, and vendors—who monitor the flow of waste and wealth. If your barangay is still “outsourcing” its responsibility to a city-wide hauler for biodegradable waste, it is failing its legal mandate. We must reclaim the BESWMC as a watchdog for transparency, ensuring that the “commissions” of the few do not outweigh the health of the many.
SHIFTING THE BUDGET: ‘INCENTIVE, NOT WASTE’
We must call for a radical restructuring of the Bacolod City budget. Currently, we pay for failure. We pay millions to haulers because we “fail” to segregate and compost. In a system governed by grace, we should pay for success.
Imagine if even just 20% of the hauling budget—roughly PHP 87 million—was diverted into a Barangay Green Fund. Under this model:
A barangay that achieves a 60% waste diversion rate through community gardening and composting receives a direct financial incentive.
This money stays in the community to fund local health centers, scholarships, or better salaries for our dedicated “Eco-Aides.”
Instead of our taxes leaving the city in the pockets of a private consortium, our money cycles back into our own neighborhoods.
THE ‘ZERO-WASTE’ BACOLODNON IDENTITY
Governance is not just about what leaders do; it is about who we choose to be. We must reject the “I paid my taxes, so it’s not my problem” mentality. This is the mindset that fuels the “dump and forget” culture.
A true Bacolodnon, in the spirit of the “City of Smiles,” should be a steward of his or her own “Common Home.” This starts with the simple, revolutionary act of source segregation. When you separate your food scraps for the community garden, you are performing an act of political resistance. You are telling the hauling contractors: “You cannot have my resource. I am keeping it for my soil.”
A DEMAND FOR WTE TRANSPARENCY
As the city pushes forward with the WTE plans at the BIRTH hub in Brgy. Felisa, we demand a Public Performance Audit. Before a single peso is committed to a 20-year “Put-or-Pay” contract, the city must prove that it has first exhausted all efforts to implement the “3Rs” at the barangay level.
If the government says WTE is necessary because “the people won’t segregate,” we must reply that the people haven’t been empowered to segregate. We refuse to let our children pay for the “lazy governance” of today with their health and their taxes tomorrow.
THE VISION: THE GARDEN CITY OF THE SOUTH
Bacolod has a choice. We can be a city that burns its future in a furnace in Brgy. Felisa, or we can be the city that grows its future in the fertile soil of 61 barangay gardens.
My research in Development Management has shown that highly urbanized cities do not have to be “concrete jungles” of waste. We can be a Circular City, where the waste of the kitchen becomes the harvest of the garden. We can be a city where “food security” is not a political slogan, but a tangible reality growing at the end of every street.
This is the path of Grace and Governance. It is a path that values the dignity of the laborer, the health of the child, and the sanctity of the soil. Let us reclaim our covenant with RA 9003. Let us reclaim our barangays. Let us reclaim our city.
The revolution doesn’t start at the ballot box; it starts in your compost pit. Let’s get to work.
SERIES CONCLUSION
This concludes our 5-part exploration into the soul of our city’s waste. Thank you for walking this journey with me. This is not just a column; it is a blueprint for a study and, hopefully, for a better Bacolod.*
