As early as the second semester of 2017, the seeds of the CAS waste management extension and community outreach project were already being planted.

The project proponent, Dr. Elizabeth T. Urgel, Department Chair (DC) for Asia Pacific Studies (APS), prepared and presented to the CAS Operations Committee (CAS OpCom) a roadmapping template for a nine-month long, three-phased project to be implemented originally in UA&P’s former partner community Barangay Caniogan. However, the plan was not executed due to a number of reasons and challenges.

Surprisingly, it was during the Covid-19 pandemic, when everyone had to work remotely and do everything online, when those seeds planted in late 2017 began to sprout, grow, and bear fruit.

A CAS project team composed of the following members was formed:

1. Dr. Urgel-project proponent and head

2. Mrs. Winnie F. Saul-Administrative Assistant (AA), APS Department

3. Ms. Agnes Clarizza S. Enriquez-College Secretary 

4. Ms. Gene Margarette S. Cruz-Humanities Program AA 

5. Ms. Abbygail C. Reyes-Executive Assistant for Special Projects (EA-SP) and Arts Department AA

Ms. Enriquez, Ms. Cruz, and Ms. Reyes are also CAS representatives to the UA&P BIGGKAS+ Technical Working Group (TWG). 

Soon, a new partner community of UA&P was identified - Barangay Pineda in Pasig City. After a series of online planning sessions, the project team was able to have its roadmap-timeline approved by Barangay Pineda officials.  The CAS Waste Management Project was launched during the first semester of the school year 2021-2022 with Barangay Pineda as main beneficiary.  

The project, which covers activities until 2023, seeks to address Barangay Pineda’s training needs assessment (TNA) results specifically: (a) the conduct of online learning activities, (b) creation of environmental products resulting from solid waste management activities, and (c) training on urban gardening. It also aligns with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) particularly Number 12 Responsible Consumption and Production, Number 13 Climate Action, and Number 17 Partnerships for the Goals.

For its first fully online project held on October 2021, the project team partnered with Rotary Club Makati Greenbelt (RCMG)-Adopt the Zero Waste Lifestyle Movement (ATZWL) in delivering an online learning session on “Isulong ang Household Composting” for barangay community leaders led by Ms. Jana De Leon, Barangay Administrator, and Mr. Randy Magtanum, Barangay Secretary as well as for Bgy. Pineda’s Brigada group. Dr. Elisa “Sessie” Tible-Caoyonan, past President of the Zero Waste Recycling Movement of the Philippines Foundation, and former President of RCMG, gave a presentation on household composting. A workshop chaired by Bgy. Pineda Captain Frankie De Leon was conducted after the presentation.

Prior to this online learning session, the project team invited barangay community members to attend the following talks during the CAS celebration of ASEAN Week on September 2021:

1. “Understanding ASEAN” by Dr. Urgel;

2. “ASEAN Youth as Drivers of Sustainable Local Change: Prospects for Engagement and Leadership” by Mr. Lourence Balatbat, UA&P alumnus; and 

3. “Climate Action Toward Disaster Resilience in Three Coastal Cities in the Philippines” by Dr. Philip Michael I. Paje, APS Professor.

This was to link up the waste management project in Bgy. Pineda with the efforts at the national and regional levels, and to raise Bgy. Pineda’s awareness of a bigger community which is the ASEAN. While the three talks were deemed relevant to the project and to the barangay, the project team noted the positive impact of Dr. Paje’s talk on some barangay community members who attended the online talk. Upon their request prior to his talk, Dr. Paje spoke in Taglish to make the key points of his talk engaging and understandable for them. Feedback such as “maganda ang topic” and “timely” were likewise received by the project team.   

After these, the project team focused on another waste management strategy which is PET bottle recycling. This covers four series of lecture-demonstrations/workshops, each series producing a particular type of recycled outputs: Series 1 Living Room decors, Series 2 Kitchen and Garden/Outdoor items, Series 3 Bedroom and Library decors, and Series 4 Household Decors. The first session of Series 1 was delivered fully online last August 19, 2022. The next two sessions held on September 8 and 29 were conducted in hyflex mode with a pair of CAS BIGGKAS+ TWG members accompanied by Mr. Ruben Nicolas, BIGGKAS+ Community Liaison Officer (CLO), being present in the designated venue. Each one and a half hour session followed a standard program flow including a mini-lecture by Dr. Urgel on “The Circular Economy” and a demo-workshop on crafting living room decors out of used PET bottles and other recycled materials led by Mr. Prisando “Sandy” Francisco, head of Barangay Pineda’s Materials Recovery Facility (MRF). An average of 20 participants were present in all three sessions. They represented the following community organizations or groups: Pineda Auxiliary Group (PAG), Youth, Sisters in Spirit (SIS), LGBTQ, and Materials Recovery Facility (MRF). 

The Series 1 will be concluded with an awarding ceremony of the PET bottle recycling contest on October 21 at the Barangay Pineda Hall.  A mini fund-raising drive was done by the project team to cover the costs of the cash prizes for the winners, consolation prizes for non-winning contestants, and tokens/honoraria for the resource person and judges.

We invite you to view the photo album  and video of the CAS Waste Management Project.  

For your inquiries about the CAS Waste Management Project, please get in touch with Mrs. Winnie F. Saul: winnie.saul@uap.asia.