Nearly 35 million kilograms of waste materials have been collected by the from around 21,000 barangays nationwide from January to April 15 this year, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) said on Monday, May 13.

In a statement, the DILG said the collected garbage was monitored through its  Kalinga at Inisyatiba para sa Malinis na Bayan (KALINISAN) program.

The KALINISAN Project or “Kalinga at Inisyatiba para sa Malinis na Bayan” is the DILG’s convergence initiative to maintain and provide a healthy and safe environment, and enable community participation anchored on the spirit of Bayanihan.

The weekly clean-up effort, according to DILG Secretary Benhur Abalos Jr., is a longstanding pledge of the national government to embody the spirit of Bayanihan through a collaborative, multi-sectoral approach aimed at fostering cleaner and greener communities.

As of April 15, he said the KALINISAN initiative already gathered 580,224 participants from 20,974 barangays.

These figures are uplifting and serve as a clear testament to the solidarity of the Filipino people, said Abalos.

On May 11, the DILG said the KALINISAN initiative had resumed in Barangay Holy Spirit, Quezon City where a total of 930 Kalinisan advocates from the barangay and various sectors actively took part in the event.

“They conducted urban gardening in the newly-built Halina’t Magtanim ng Prutas at Gulay (HAPAG) Community Garden, in addition to their existing Gulayan at Bulaklakan Research and Training Center,” the agency stated.

The DILG said the barangay also reported road clearing initiatives where it recorded 92 streets and 6,200 structures cleared within six months of operation through voluntary demolition.

On February 24, the “KALINISAN sa Bagong Pilipinas Clean-up Drive” made its debut in Barangay Holy Spirit, Quezon City.

The DILG issued Memorandum Circular 2020-085 and Memorandum Circular No. 2023-017, highlighting policies regarding the implementation of road clearing among local government units (LGUs).