TRAVELS (and more) WITH CECILIA BRAINARD: Follow-Up: Cleaning Up Cebu's Creeks & Rivers

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Follow-Up: Cleaning Up Cebu's Creeks & Rivers

While I was in Cebu recently, I saw this sign hanging on the historic bridge on Logarta Street in Old Historic Cebu. The sign says: No Dumping of Garbage at This Area. Multa: P500.00 - P1,000.00 or 6 Months Imprisonment.

The Logarta Bridge is the same bridge where I had seen a foreigner stare with horror at the filth floating in the creek below two years ago. I was delighted that the Barangay Captain and Council have taken measures to stop the dumping of garbage into this creek.

Coincidentally, after the fluvial parade of the recent Sinulog, there were a number of articles that discussed the garbage that filled the sea and caused the malfunctioning of some motorboats. That filth that appeared in the sea most likely came from creeks and rivers. In a sense, it is good that people unfamiliar with the pollution of Cebu's rivers and creeks now know how bad the situation is.

It is commendable that the Barangay Captain and Council of the district where the Logarta Bridge is located should put up the No Dumping of Garbage Sign.

It is my hope that the other barangays and local governments will put up similar signs to prevent pollution of Cebu's rivers and creeks.

Likewise, streets should be kept clean, and perhaps local barangays can place garbage containers along the streets and encourage people to throw their garbage in them.

And while we're at it, how about some beautification of the sidewalks of Historic Cebu? After all, quite a lot of tourists who bring in money to the city visit Old Cebu.

And to go further, how about the city government offer residents of Old Historic Cebu a tax break for painting and fixing up their places? That should encourage some people to slap on some paint on buildings that currently look dilapidated.

Government officials must keep in mind that tourists bring in a lot of revenue and tourists want a place to be safe and clean, among other things.

I'm posting below the link to my February 2009 article about the pollution of Cebu's rivers and creeks.

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:wRx6oYbP7O8J:cbrainard.blogspot.com/2009/02/clean-up-canals-in-old-cebu.html+old+cebu+historic+bridge&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&source=www.google.com

Cecilia Manguerra Brainard

Cecilia Manguerra Brainard's official website is ceciliabrainarddotcom. She is the award-winning author and editor of 22 books, including When the Rainbow Goddess Wept, The Newspaper Widow, Magdalena, Selected Stories, Vigan and Other Stories, and more. She edited Growing Up Filipino 1, 2, & 3, Fiction by Filipinos in America, Contemporary Fiction by Filipinos in America, and other books.. Her work has been translated into Finnish and Turkish; and many of her stories and articles have been widely anthologized. Cecilia has received many awards, including a California Arts Council Fellowship in Fiction, a Brody Arts Fund Award, a Special Recognition Award for her work dealing with Asian American youths, as well as a Certificate of Recognition from the California State Senate, 21st District, and the Outstanding Individual Award from her birth city, Cebu, Philippines. She has lectured and performed at UCLA, USC, University of Connecticut, University of the Philippines, PEN, Shakespeare & Company in Paris, and many others. She has served in the Board of literary arts groups such as PEN, PAWWA (Pacific Asian American Writers West), among others.