MANILA Mayor Honey Lacuna has created a body that would guard against efforts at sabotaging the city government’s garbage collection efforts as the city awarded the services to two new contractors, following consistent complaints on garbage that are being uncollected in what is seen as inefficiency and a sabotage move against the current administration.
It was learned that the new contractors, MetroWaste Solid Waste Management Corporation (MetroWaste) and Phil. Ecology Systems Corporation (PhilEco) had a ‘dry run’ collection on December 30 after winning the contract on a clean and transparent bidding. They will replace the Leonel Waste Management, which had been the contractor since the time of ex-Mayor Isko Moreno.
“Nanalo ang MetroWaste at PhilEco sa bidding sa halagang pasok sa approved budget ng Lungsod na P842.7 milyon. Ang kontrata ay para sa buong taon ng 2025, para sa anim na distrito ng Maynila. Nasa P412,931,706.32 ang winning bid ng MetroWaste para sa Districts 1, 2, at 3 ng Maynila habang P429,786,061.68 ang winning bid ng PhilEco para sa koleksyon at disposal ng basura sa Districts 4, 5, at 6,” the mayor said.
Based on the PhilGEPS procurement portal, the invitation to bid was issued on November 21, while the deadline for the submission of bids was on December 3. Said bids were made on the same day.
According to Lacuna, there are now two contractors to ensure that the garbage collection performance of the city will be above standard, noting how the former contractor, Leonel Waste Management Corporation, had been a failure in doing its job.
“Asahan pong may kaunting adjustments sa simula, mabilis naman ang magiging transition dahil aalalay ang Manila Solid Waste Management Office sa mga bago nating contractors upang matiyak na mahahakot ang mga basura nang mabilis at maayos. We expect the collection schedule to fully normalize by the second week of January,” Lacuna said.
As this developed, Lacuna formed a 10-member task force called, TFARO (Task Force Against Road Obstruction) composed of various units of the local government, with the aim of ensuring the smooth and proper transfer of operations from the old to the new contractors.
Alongside this, the lady mayor warned those who may take advantage of the transition period to make it appear that the city government‘s garbage collection is not efficient.
“May mga gumagawa ng hakbang para guluhin ang proseso at sirain ang reputasyon ng lungsod at bagong contractor. Kilala namin sila – ang iba’y nag-ooperate sa gedli-gedli, habang ang iba nama’y tila mga bampirang kayang maglalakad sa liwanag ng araw. Pakaway-kaway pa. Zero tolerance tayo sa anumang uri ng pananabotahe, mula man ito sa loob o labas ng city hall,” she said.
Lacuna appealed to barangay officials to lend their support and cooperation to the new contractors to make them perform to the fullest and for them to advise the residents on the proper waste segregation and garbage collection schedules.
