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Environmental Issues And Concerns in Cagayan de Oro City

A Policy/Recommendation Paper

Prepared by:

Carl Bryan Declaro Pontillas

February, 2011

Introduction / Background of the City’s Environmental Condition

Cagayan de Oro is a city flourished with the gift of abundant natural resources from God. From the great river that flows in the middle of the city up to the wondrous forestry that situates in the mountains found in the city. It also have great places where you could see some of the great works of nature, specifically, in the Malasag Eco-village found in Cugman, Cagayan de Oro City.

The City of Golden Friendship, Cagayan de Oro is a city surrounded by great mountain ranges. These mountains are said to protect the city from floods and landslides, which was proved to be true, since for the past decades, never did the city experienced great flood nor landslides.

But one morning on January 2009, that said fact was defied when the city was struck with great flood that affected almost every corner of Cagayan de Oro. Many Kagay-anons were greatly affected by the flood. Millions of livelihoods were destroyed; classes on all levels were suspended for 2 weeks, some for 3 weeks. Schools, mostly public elementary were greatly affected. Buildings and houses near the seashore and riverbanks were damaged, or worst, destroyed.

The said phenomena alarmed the Kagay-anons, what had happened to our mountains? Why weren’t they able to protect us this time?

Statement of the Current Environmental Problem in the City

Cagayan de Oro is known to be one of the fastest growing cities in the Philippines nowadays. The city which once was dominated only by Ororama, Gaisano and Limketkai is now being conquered by giant investors like SM, having 1 big branch and 2 smaller branches in the city. Not to mention the ongoing construction of Centrio Mall and Hotel under Ayala Corporation.

A great percentage of the mountains and forests in the city are turned into commercial spots like subdivisions and recreational parks. Mountainous barangays in the city like Indahag is now being dominated by large firms and is planned to be converted into subdivisions to compensate the demand of housing in the city.

Because of the continuous booming of the city, the numbers of vehicles also continue to boost. Pollution in the city caused by smoke belchers and garbage all over the city is also a great environmental factor. As the city continues to prosper and grow, its population also continues to boom higher.

Solid Waste Management is said to be the number one problem in the city’s environment. Many of the settlers in Cagayan de Oro lack’s the knowledge when it comes to proper segregation of the garbage and even proper disposal of personal garbage is an issue.

Now I wonder, is it really that hard to properly dispose one’s garbage? It may seem to be just a little factor for many of those with little knowledge of the problem, but for those who really sees its great impact to the environment, it really is a big, and I literally mean big, problem in Cagayan de Oro nowadays.

I remember my high school days, I spent four year in Misamis Oriental General Comprehensive High School, a public school situated at the heart of Cagayan de Oro City. For four years, I’ve never seen my school totally free of garbage, especially in our pathways and oftentimes in some of our building’s lobby. And that’s just a part of the city. When you take time to look at the city’s surroundings, you will find it very sophisticated. Cagayan de Oro is now a great place for shopping and other pleasures in life, but aside from that, you will notice that garbage is very much visible in the city.

From the national highways up to the most isolated parts of Cagayan de Oro, you will see that the city lacks proper Solid Waste Management. Even the city’s damp site is a shame!

Yes, such a sad reality to swallow, especially for a Kagay-anon like me. But I guess just thinking of the problem would not be a help. Action must be done. As a youth, I need to be a part of the solution, rather than just being a part of the growing problem.

Objectives and Actions Made

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in partnership with the City Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO) are taking measures that aim to uplift the city’s Solid Waste Management.

• The DENR is conducting “Youth Camps” that aims to expose the youth into proper caring and conservation of the environment in an enjoyable way.
• “Linis Estero” is a program conducted by the DENR in order to help clean the Kinasanghan Drainage found in Lapasan. This drainage always overflows during rainy days causing flood in the said area that affects traffic and even the university near the said drainage.
• Various NGO’s are also taking part in helping the city solving Solid Waste Management problems.
• Barangays in the city are conducting lectures that aim to educate citizens with the problems that improper garbage disposals bring, not just to the city but to each individual. Diseases caused by improper Solid Waste Management is discuss to open one’s mind with the importance of proper garbage disposal.
• The Youth Organizations in some barangays, like in Cugman, conducts Zonal Clean-up to help keep the barangay’s surrounding clean.
• Schools like STI conducts community service like Proper Garbage Disposal to help the city. This includes providing garbage bins to certain sites that needs it.
• The youth organizations in our barangay plans to conduct activities that aim to encourage settlers in our area to participate by giving prizes to winners, like Greenest backyards and cleanest surroundings.

Additional plans in helping our environment are laid out by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the City Environment and Natural Resources Office. Even normal concern citizens and NGO’s are taking part in helping our environment.

Recommendations

For the past years, Cagayan de Oro progressed and deteriorated at the same time. As the city continues to prosper, its environment also continues to fluctuate lower. I could recall a line from a song, from the ‘80’s or ‘90’s, that says, “…hindi naman masama ang pag-unlad, at malayo-layo na rin an gating narating.” Yes, Cagayan de Oro has soared high for the past decades, but now, it is time that we need to reevaluate and focus in saving our waning environmental status. So far, it seems to be a great burden for us to totally hoist our environment from the quicksand of improper solid waste management. But if we will continue the steps in helping our environment, we will be able, someday to totally eradicate the garbage that dwells in our city.

As we all know, it is somehow hard to control the thriving population in our area, so instead of focusing on the population control as the medium or solution to our Solid Waste Management, it is a MUST to educate our people furthermore about the pros of Proper Solid Waste Management and the cons of improper Garbage and waste disposal.

With continuous effort to uplift our city’s environmental status, we are looking forward to a cleaner, greener and better to best Cagayan de Oro City.