DENR 6 bats for a clean 2020 Dinagyang fest

Dinagyang Festival is known for its colorful costumes, great dance performances and infectious fun and laughter. It is the most awaited festivity every year Ilonggos and foreign tourists looked forward to. This year, the city government is making great strides in achieving a clean festival./(photos by Marc Lozano)

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in Region 6 is batting for a clean 2020 Dinagyang Festival, confident that the city will live up to its goal to become one of the cleanest city in the Philippines.

With the upcoming Dinagyang Festival dubbed as Dinagyang 360, events such as religious sadsad (January 25), food festival (January 23-26), and the Dagyang sa Calle Real (January 25) are seen to generate tons of wastes and will pose the challenge of cleaning up for the city’s General Services Office (GSO).

“The responsibility of being clean during the festivity does not lie on the city government alone. It is time every individual – Iloilo residents and tourists alike, must take it upon themselves to be clean as they join Dinagyang Festival,” said DENR 6 Regional Executive Director Francisco E. Milla, Jr.

Last 2019 Dinagyang Festival, the GSO has collected twenty four (24) trucks of garbage with an estimated total weight between 70 to 80 tons of wastes.

Proper solid waste management program is among the top three of DENR Secretary Roy A. Cimatu’s priority programs. “We should teach our children how to segregate wastes and properly disposed it. We should say no to single use plastics as much as possible,” he told DENR employees during one of his visits.

On Monday, January 13, 2020, Iloilo City Mayor Jerry P. Treñas led the signing of a commitment
they call CLAYGO or Clean As You Go, which campaigns for a clean Dinagyang Festival 2020. The commitment was also signed by all employees of the city government.

“This is good news to us and we hope that all Ilonggos and others who will have fun joining the Dinagyang Festival will support this move. If all local government units and the people work together for a clean environment, this makes it easy for us to implement the provisions of the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act or the RA 9003,” RED Milla added.

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