Acknowledging the encouraging experience of Dumaguete City and its Civil Society Organization in partnership building and participatory governance, 66 CSO and LGU leaders from 18 different municipalities and cities across the country recently met with Mayor Felipe Antonio Remollo and other local officials to learn the good practices and mechanism in LGU-CSO engagement and partnership towards local development.
The visit is part of the project Consolidating CSO Networks for Citizen’s Engagement Towards Participatory and Accountable Governance for Poverty Reduction Phase 2 that intends to strengthen CSO participation in local governance and community building as advocated by the Philippine Partnership for the Development of Human Resources in Rural Areas.
Dumaguete City CSO Desk Officer Albert Aquino, City Planning and Development Coordinator Leonides Caro and local CSO leaders held dialogue sessions with the delegates to “foster sustained group engagement leading to practical peer learning for application to create change.”
The delegation also toured and was briefed on the city’s solid waste management and the operation of the Central Material Recovery Facility, which was awarded by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources as “Best in Resource Recovery in a Centralized Materials Recovery Facility” in Region 7.
DENR recognized Mayor Remollo and Dumaguete LGU for generating a monthly income of more than P 500, 000 for the City Government through its recovery of recyclable materials/wastes and conversion of garbage to construction materials (hollow blocks and pavers) while providing livelihood for the waste pickers through proper and sustainable solid waste management.