CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – A university-based non-profit foundation here said that the Cagayan de Oro River’s current condition is far from its previous state but it is continuously urging residents, especially those living in riverbank barangays, to help maintain its cleanliness.
Rosalina Huerbana, executive director of the Safer River, Life Saver Foundation Inc. (SRLSF), asked residents to provide the same amount of importance in terms of ensuring the river’s sanitation as the waste from rivers is already going to the sea.
ROSALINA Huerbana, executive director of the Safer River, Life Saver Foundation Inc. (SRLSF), answers questions from the media during the ‘Meet the Press’ program of the Cagayan de Oro Press Club (COPC) on Wednesday, July 26. (Screengrab from Angel Broadcasting News Online Facebook Live).
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"Para ra pud ni sa atong katawhan (This is for (the betterment) of our people)," Huerbana said during the "Meet the Press" program of the Cagayan de Oro Press Club on Wednesday, July 26.
The SRLSF, a foundation of the Liceo de Cagayan University, was established in the year 2000 due to a lack of development in the Cagayan de Oro River, which, Huerbana said, had been treated as a dumping area more than 20 years ago.
The foundation’s very first activity conducted in that year was a cleanup drive where they found many dead animals and garbage from residents. This city has 22 riverbank barangays.
Huerbana said the SRLSF had received a laboratory result from the Water Quality Management of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources-Region 10 saying that the Cagayan de Oro River is still considered a Class A river as of 2022. This means that the river is "clean but not potable."
The foundation continuously provides education and awareness to residents through their Safer Rivers Club. This is apart from their river patrolling to ensure that no waste is floating on the river.
PARTICIPANTS of the fluvial procession travel on the Cagayan de Oro River during the Higalaay Festival in Cagayan de Oro City on August 28, 2022. (File photo courtesy of the Cagayan de Oro City Information Office)
Residents here nowadays, Huerbana said, are now more aware, due to the city ordinance that prohibits garbage dumping in the river.
Throwing any waste in the river is prohibited under the anti-littering ordinance here, as stated in Chapter 115 of City Ordinance No. 4373-94, or the ordinance codifying all of the ordinances in the city from 1945 to November 14, 1994.
Engr. Armen Cuenca, head of the City Local Environment and Natural Resources Office (CLENRO), said they continuously coordinate with all barangays, most especially the riverbank barangays, to enforce the ordinance.
"Dili mana namo mabuhat nga kami lang (We are unable to (enforce the law) alone)," Cuenca said.
Anyone who violates the ordinance shall be fined between P1,500 to P3,000 and meted imprisonment of not less than four months and one day to not more than eight months or both at the discretion of the court.
Apart from waste, SRLSF also acknowledged the booming water hyacinths. But they always coordinate with CLENRO for the extraction.
The foundation reiterated the importance of maintaining cleanliness, stressing the potential of the Cagayan de Oro River as a tourism destination here.