BAGUIO CITY- – The Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) bagged six awards during the Bangon Kabuhayan Awarding ceremony held in Ramada Binondo Central, Binondo, Manila last November 13.
The region was recognized for the livelihood project dubbed as “Pathways to Progress: Eco-brick and Eco-block Making for Residual Wastes”, being implemented in the municipality of Bontoc in Mountain Province.
This project conceptualized by the local government unit(LGU) of the capital town of Bontoc to address its problem in waste management, was awarded the Most Environmentally Friendly Project besting 13 other projects from other regions in the country.
The LGU is implementing Oplan Pera sa Basura wherein all elementary and high school students in the municipality collect recyclable wastes to ensure enough raw materials for the endeavor.
Said project which was given P1 million seed capital to buy equipment such as plastic shredders and metal forms, also garnered the Best Livelihood Project for Special Sector. Provincial Jail inmates serve as the project’s labor force in the production of eco-bricks and eco-blocks thru a memorandum of agreement between the Senior Citizens Federation of Bontoc and the Provincial Jail.
Originally aimed to help address waste management issues, the project has developed into an income generating activity for the senior citizens and the inmates. Thus the award for Best Regional Microenterprise Project.
For this project, LGU-Bontoc was also named People’s Choice Award for Microenterprise Development Track and Best Regional Partner.
Sustainable Livelihood Program(SLP) Project Development Officer Chalikis Alawas was also recognized as the Best Project Development Officer.
“We are greatly honored and delighted with the recognitions that our region has received through our partnership with the people of Bontoc. The recognitions prove that development need not to have negative effects with our environment and that problems will be easier to solve if we come together and converge our efforts. We hope that more partnerships will prosper for us to further facilitate improvement in the lives of the Cordillera people,” Department of Social Welfare and Development(DSWD)-Cordillera Regional Director Janet P. Armas said.
Organized by the SLP- National Program Management Office of the DSWD, the Bangon Kabuhayan Awards aim to feature outstanding enterprise and employment initiatives supported by the SLP and its partners. It provides opportunity for the program implementers to share good practices in program implementation. It is also a venue to recognize key stakeholders that provide support to the program.
“We are grateful to the DSWD for recognizing our community in its efforts for solid waste management and livelihood. Our senior citizens have indeed put to heart our community’s battle cry, “Let us all be part of the solution”. We hope other LGUs will also see the value of partnering with the various sectors as well as with NGAs in uplifting the life of the people”, Bontoc Mayor Franklin Odsey shared./Nerizza Faye G. Villanueva- DSWD CAR
