'Be like Boking'

NO, SHE did not say that verbatim, but Gov. Lilia G. Pineda might as well have said it when she enjoined heads of local government units and barangay officials in Pampanga to emulate Mabalacat City Mayor Marino “Boking” Morales.

Pampanga mayors did not really need that urging from the Gov. For who – in his right political frame of mind – wouldn’t want to be like Boking? Sitting mayor since 1995 pa and yet in only his first term – as city mayor – now!

With two more re-elections – 2016 and 2019, it’s Boking pa rin until 2022. He would have ruled and reigned over Mabalacat in all of 27 years by then – translating to all of nine terms running straight! The three-term limit be damned!  The Guinness Record will not be for breaking but for blasting to smithereens there.  

So what did the Gov really say?

“Mabalacat City has been successful in reducing its garbage. In fact, itong si Mayor Boking mayroon pang incentive na P500,000 per year dahil sa kanilang sistema (sa pagsasa-ayos) sa problema sa basura.”

Uh-oh. So the governor meant Mabalacat’s way of concretely addressing its garbage problem pala. Not Boking’s political longevity.

So what did Mabalacat/Boking do to earn gubernatorial encomium and merit being poster boy of LGUs in waste management?

Boking entered into an agreement with leading cement company Holcim Philippines in the “co-processing” of his city’s solid wastes using a so-called Geocycle System.

On the side of the LGU, plastics such as Styrofoam, cellophane, bags and foil packs, textile, rubber and the like – collectively called “Holcimables” – are manually segregated from other non-biodegradable residuals at the “running dump” by “authorized” scavengers and 30 personnel of the city government.      

Twenty to 25 sacks of Holcimables weighing from 2.5 to 5 kilos are produced by individual sorters daily, totalling to some 2.5 metric tons average.

These are then baled – with the machine provided by the Capitol, and hauled by Holcim for “alternative fuel use” with the resultant ash made as additive to concrete materials.

“In this co-processing system, the ‘mangangalakal’ earns while the city saves a huge amount in hauling waste to Kalangitan. If before, they used to haul garbage at least once a week on the gross average of P15,000 per haul, now the city does it just twice a month and often, once a month na lang. And they get, in addition, the P500,000 from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources through the solid waste management secretariat as an annual materials recovery facility assistance.” So was Jaeson Sambat of the Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office (Penro)  quoted in media reports.

Everybody productively happy in that set-up, eh?

While the Geocycle System is not exclusive to Mabalacat City, being also at work in Porac and Guagua, it is however proven most efficacious in the next Makati north of Manila, with a monthly output of 200 metric tons, as against Porac’s measly 60 MT and Guagua’s even smaller 20 MT.

Maybe, just maybe, Boking is the big difference here. Hence, the Gov pushing for him – embodying Mabalacat City – as the LGU template in solid waste management.

So, are there any heeders to the Gov’s call?

Reported Sun-Star Pampanga over the weekend:

The local government unit (LGU) of Mexico is gearing up for solid waste “co-processing” and will use Mabalacat City’s “running dump model” and Geocycle system.

Mayor Roy Manalastas, told Sun.Star Pampanga on Friday, that the Local Development Council (LDC) is now re-aligning funds for the purchase of an additional dump truck which will complement three smaller garbage trucks needed to successfully emulate Mabalacat City’s system of recycling and wisely transforming solid waste into “Holcimables.”

Emulate Mabalacat City and be like Boking. The first-time mayor of Mexico is looking way beyond 2016.

Did I just hear once and future Mayor Teddy Tumang laughing?