Over 2.6 million kilograms of trash were collected during the launch of the Marcos administration's Kalinga at Inisyatiba Para Sa Malinis na Bayan (Kalinisan) program on Saturday, Jan. 6, Malacañang said Monday.

In a statement, the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) said 2,646,948 kilograms of trash were collected in 9,189 barangays across the country.

Citing a report from the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), 580,000 individuals, including the following from different regions, in the said cleanup drive:

• 117,161 from Calabarzon
• 103,249 from Cagayan Valley
• 103,044 from Central Luzon
• 63,996 from Northern Mindanao
• 59,630 from Mimaropa
• 39,109 from Metro Manila
• 29,814 from Central Visayas
• 28,650 from the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR)
• 27,287 from the Zamboanga Peninsula
• 8,060 from SOCCSKSARGEN
   

According to the PCO,109,939 local officials also joined the program.

Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos said they will conduct quarterly recognition of local government units (LGUs) that will efficiently implement President Marcos' Kalinisan program to ensure their participation in the government's initiative.

He added the program also aims to showcase the spirit of volunteerism while ensuring safe and healthy communities to live in.

Abalos urged local chief executives to pass their respective ordinances that would require community service for individuals who were caught littering.

The DILG launched the Kalinisan program on Saturday through a national simultaneous cleanup drive at the Baseco Compound in Manila, which coincides with the observance of the annual Community Development Day. 

On Jan. 6, President Marcos urged the newly elected Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan officials to keep their vicinities clean.