Is The Philippines A Clean Country?

Dec 5

Overview Of Cleanliness Challenges In The Philippines

Government Efforts And Community Initiatives For Improving Sanitation

The Philippines is among those archipelagos with 7,000 plus islands and has close to 108 million inhabitants and therefore creates huge challenges towards concerns of cleanup to health to the environment and sustainability. The country being a very nice and culturally rich area has a herculean task when it comes to managing wastes, sanitation, and access to safe and clean water.

percentage of the population in the Philippines with access to safe water and sanitation facilities.

Main Issues

Absence of Water

The non-access to safe drinking water is one of the main challenges in the Philippines. 8 million Filipinos do not access a constant supply of safe drinking water due to a lack of supply infrastructures and equally poor quality. The case is worst with rural communities as they are further behind urban communities in terms of improvement in infrastructures.

Lack of Sanitation Facilities

Over 25 million have no access to improved sanitation facilities. Most of them adopt open defecation and this is a risk to the public health sector since most diseases are brought about by contaminated water. Improper provision for sanitation facilities is a violation of rights to humans and a public health menace at large.

High Incidence Rate of Communicable and Waterborne Diseases

The country has the highest incidence rate of communicable and waterborne diseases like diarrhea, cholera, and typhoid fever. In all these diseases, it is the poorest segments—the children less than five years old—most at risk. By WHO definitions, lack of adequate sanitation and poor hygiene are amongst the key determinants causing these diseases.

Limited Hygiene Access

There are so many houses with no access to the most basic hygiene services such as soap and handwashing facilities. This hence means basic hygiene activities will never take place at all, especially during epidemics.

Weak Policies for Implementation

Though there are policy initiatives for WASH improvement, it is weak during its implementation. The local units are resource-poor or have limited capacity and thus fail to enforce some regulations.

Limited Budget

The funds disbursed by the government towards WASH programs are limited and thus there are challenges to implement sustainable measures. Infrastructure investments are needed to enhance access to safe water and sanitation facilities.

Urbanization and Climate Change

Urbanization has led to the escalation of waste generation and pollution in urban areas such as Manila. Climate change exacerbates further the sanitation challenges by damaging infrastructure and disrupting services.

A local government meeting focused on addressing sanitation issues. — **Government Efforts and Community Initiatives for Improving Sanitation**

Despite all these impediments, there have been initiatives by the Philippine state to provide answers to questions regarding cleanliness through various initiatives to enhance sanitation and hygiene throughout the country.

Government Initiatives

Legislation:

Ecological Solid Waste Management Act (RA 9003) is implemented to promote source segregation and enhance local-level practices in managing wastes. It challenges local units to adopt and formulate their solid waste management plans according to the needs of the locality.

Infrastructure Development:

Sanitation centers and toilets have been established by the government all over the country as an initiative towards its vision of “zero open defecation.” This decreases the occurrence of diseases such as polio as all villages are equipped with sanitation centers.

Partnerships with NGOs:

The government has made partnerships with NGOs to promote community access to WASH services. Partnerships can strive to improve capacity at community organizations and at local governments.

National Programs:

National government of Philippines has equally established various national programs with a aim to improve the water supply and sanitation infrastructures in poor communities. These programs are generally founded upon funding by International institutions towards meeting the SDGs.

Environmental Impact

The environmental implications of the challenges posed with sanitation challenges in the Philippines are similarly expansive. The improper waste management infrastructure widens pollution rates along waterways negatively affecting oceanic ecosystems and biodiversity. Littering with plastic is further among the prime areas of concerns with rivers and coastlines lined with rubbish causing destruction to marine life.

Volunteers participating in a community clean-up. — **Community Participation**

The community has to get involved to address dirty situations in Philippines. Most programs advocate for community participation to keep the community clean.

Educational Campaigns:

Awareness campaigns regarding the importance of proper hygiene practices have been carried out among communities. The campaigns are to create a realization about proper handwashing with soap and other safe food-handling measures.

Recycling Programs:

Local communities conduct recycling programs where training is done with families on how to sort wastes properly. By employing recycling bins and educative resources, those programs minimize littering and promote ecological lifestyles.

School Participation:

Schools are at the forefront when it comes to mainstreaming values promoting environmental stewardship to students through converged education programs for sanitation and hygiene education. School-level activities often involve engaging students in community service activities such as clean-ups.

Innovative Solutions:

Some communities have been innovative in adopting solutions such as rainwater harvesting schemes to provide an added supply of fresh water to households, primarily in communities with little piped water supply.

Local Governments’ Incentive Schemes:

Local governments provide incentives to communities towards meeting selected levels of cleanliness or attaining the milestones through reduction and recycling of wastes.

Positive Results

This is through policy initiatives by the government and community efforts that have increased access to safe water and sanitation facilities throughout the country. Access to basic sanitation services by Filipinos has increased from 67% in 2000 to 75% by 2020 and thus has registered some gain despite prevailing challenges.