Mayor Finishes 2nd Module on Toxic Waste Management

Gen. Santos City Mayor Pedro Acharon, Jr. recently finished another round of training seminar on his road to completing a Certificate Program on Toxic and Hazardous Waste Management at the University of the Philippines Diliman (UPD).

The 5-day training course which was on “Chemical Emergency and Preparedness (THW 220)” was conducted by the UP through the National Engineering Center (NEC). This is the 2^nd module in the 4-module program which aims to build the technical capacity of staff from the government and private sectors on the key elements of toxic and hazardous waste management as a requirement for the implementation of RA 6969 (Toxic Substances and Hazardous and Nuclear Wastes Control Act of 1990).

The mayor has placed Environment Regeneration and Protection in the forefront of his administration’s guiding policies under the SHEEP program and has always been cognizant of the need of the local government to be adept, updated and knowledgeable on issues related to it.

In November of 2007, he finished the program’s first module together with City Planning Officer Engr. Nael Cruspero and will be going back for the 3^rd and final modules next month and March 2008 at the same university in Quezon City. (GenSan CMO/avel manansala)

TOXIC WASTE MANAGEMENT. GenSan City Mayor Jun Acharon assisting his team (where he acted as Incident Commander) in preparing to respond to a hazardous chemical spill simulation at the Clark Development Corporation grounds in Angeles City last January 24, 2008. This activity is part of the 2nd phase of his 4-module course leading to a Certificate Program on Toxic & Hazardous Waste Management conducted by UP Diliman through the National Engineering Center (NEC). (GenSan CMO/avel manansala)

Land Bank Chief Calls on Mayor

BANK PRESIDENT AT CITY HALL. Land Bank of the Philippines president and chief executive Gilda Pico during her courtesy call on Gen. Santos City Mayor Pedro Acharon, Jr. on December 20, 2007 to discuss his priority environment-protection related projects. The Land Bank of the Philippines is offering a loan facility of about P300million to the city to finance its Sanitary Landfill Project in Barangay Sinawal .

Mayor Enrolls in Waste Management Course at the UP

WASTE MANAGEMENT COURSE AT UP FOR ACHARON. GenSan City Mayor Pedro Acharon, Jr. (extreme left) during a break at his class on "Toxic & Hazardous Waste Management" at the University of the Philippines Diliman from November 9-12, 2007. This is the first of the four-module training course which the mayor, a licensed civil engineer, enrolled in under the Certificate Program on Toxic and Hazardous Waste Management of the UP's National Engineering Center to strenghten his administration's implemention of the city's Integrated Solid Waste and Waste Water Management Plan. With him in the photo are (L-R) Phil. Batteries, Inc.'s Jayme Gonzales, Course Director Dr. Gene Peralta of NEC, Globe Telecom's Beth Tamayo, Team Enery Sual Corp.'s Eric Legarda, Phil. Abatement Systems Specialist Inc.'s Lito Pogon and Carlito Cabanela, also of Team Energy.

For a period of five days early this November, Gen. Santos City Mayor Pedro Acharon, Jr. undertook a training course in the first of a series of modules on Waste Management at the University of the Philippines in Diliman.

This is the Certicate Program on Toxic and Hazardous Waste Management which is a four-module training course conducted by the university through the National Engineering Center (NEC) in coordination with its Department of Chemical Engineering and Environmental Engineering Graduate Program.

Its objective is to build the technical capacity of leaders from the government and private sectors on the key elements of toxic and hazardous waste management for the implementation of RA 6969 or the "Toxic Substances and Hazardous and Nuclear Wastes Control Act".

Mayor Acharon, who is a licensed civil engineer has focused on environment protection as one of his adminstration's flagship missions through his Environmental Governance Project or Eco-Gov2.

This includes his designs on the city's Integrated Solid Waste and Waste Water Management Plan and the Sarangani Bay Protected Seascape Plan which is in partnership with Sarangani Province. An offshoot of these plans is the Sanitary Landfill project in Barangay Sinawal which is in its bidding stage at this point and will be completed in 2009 at the earliest.

The course in UP, according to the mayor, therefore, "will not only equip us with more technical knowledge on how the city should conduct its handling of its waste material but they will also strengthen our networking with capable institutions and agencies which may assist us on matters pertaining to environmental protection and regeneration."

For this first set of module from November 5 to 9, entitled "Toxic and Hazardous Waste Management", Mayor Acharon teamed up with Engr. Nael Cruspero, who heads the City Planning Development Office. Subsequent modules scheduled for next year are: "Chemical Emergency Response and Preparedness"; "Inspection, Compliance and Enforcement"; and "Pollution Prevention".

All of these are under Course Director Dr. Gene Peralta of the National Engineering Center.