THE head of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) wants the department’s newly promoted officials to review and implement all environmental and other laws of the country in their respective turfs to prevent the garbage and environment crisis that happened in Boracay, Aklan, to take place in other areas of the country.
Officer in Charge Eduardo M. Año told the 31 newly promoted DILG officials in a mass oath-taking that “the current problem in Boracay is just a symptom.”
Año emphasized “the real sickness is the implementation of the law.”
“I urge you to help us rectify and solve the problem in Boracay by making a chain of actions in your areas so that other parts of the country will not suffer the same fate,” said Año, reportedly being groomed as interior secretary by President Duterte by October this year.
The problem on garbage and environment of Boracay became a “hot item” after Duterte himself berated the businessmen of Boracay Island and the local government officials of Malay town for letting the garbage and environmental problem get out of hand.
The garbage situation already affected the quality of the island’s water.
The DILG and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) are working together after Duterte ordered the closing of Boracay if its garbage, drainage and water situation remained problematic.
The businessmen and the local government units (LGU) are cooperating with the DILG and DENR in cleaning up Boracay Island.
Año told the newly promoted officials “to understand and learn from the Boracay problem and how they can avoid similar situations in their place of assignments.”
He said LGU officials should not wait for an environmental crisis to happen in other tourist spots like El Nido, Coron, Siargao and Camiguin before they act and do their assignments and responsibilities.
“As DILG field officials, you can prevent a similar crisis from happening. You should be vigilant,” he said.