Siquijor 4Ps Beneficiaries Engage in ‘Kwarta sa Basura’ Project

Siquijor Pantawid Pamilya partner-beneficiaries have their own trash to cash project.

A joint effort of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Field Office VII through the Sustainable Livelihood Program (SLP) and Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program, the Local Government Unit (LGU) of Siquijor and Japan International Cooperative Agency (JICA), the “Kwarta sa Basura” project aims to increase income of the partner-beneficiaries in Barangay Caticugan and Dumanhog.

“Dili lang sa economic aspect kini makatabang sa among mga benepisyaryo, paagi usab kini sa pag-minos sa problema sa basura aron mapreserbar ang atong kalikopan (This project would not only help us beneficiaries economically, but also helps address in the reduction of trash which eventually help in the preservation of our environment),” said Cheryl Jumamil, a Pantawid Pamilya partner-beneficiary from Brgy. Caticugan.

The Municipality of Siquijor is the only town in the province that implements the sanitary landfill to reduce solid waste disposal.

The town step up in their effort to preserve the environment with the help of JICA.

Ayaka Ishikawa, a Japanese volunteer from JICA, discussed about proper solid waste management through the Family Development Session (FDS) to educate the beneficiaries on the proper waste disposal and segregation.

She also provided a simple training to upcycle the solid waste and turn it into a usable material.

“Dako gyud ang ikatabang niining training sa pag-gama og pitaka gamit ang materyales gikan sa basura ilabi na kay ako ra ang nangita sa pagkakaron kay naparalyze man ang akong bana niadtong 2016 (This training on wallet made of trash materials helps us a lot since I am the only one earns for a living since my husband has been paralyzed since 2016),” Cheryl said.

Cheryl revealed that she was able to initially earn Php 20,000.00 out from selling wallets.

Through the SLP’s Cash for Building Livelihood Asset for Communal Garden, Pantawid Pamilya partner-beneficiaries constructed their own Material Recovery Facility (MRF) in order to collect garbage and other residual wastes within their community.

The purpose of this collection is not to send the solid waste to the sanitary landfill but for upcycling.

Reusable materials like plastic bottles and cellophanes are turned into usable materials like wallets, bags, decorations like flower lanterns, rugs among others.

In fact, they were able to sell flower lanterns made of a 1.5-liter soft drink plastic bottles.

Currently, the LGU is procuring the construction materials to build a facility for them to store their products and the DSWD will also provide other necessary equipment.