Mounting garbage problems in Malabon

I am in no mood to be deceived any longer by the crafty devil and false character whose greatest pleasure is to take advantage of everyone.

— French sculptor Camille Claudel

MAYPAJO, Caloocan City — After a brief hiatus from local politics, former Ilocos Sur governor Luis ‘Chavit’ Singson is back on the saddle to confirm his plan to join the senatorial derby in next year’s midterm elections.

Singson said his decision for a political comeback was prompted by the endorsement from his friend, former president Rodrigo ‘Digong’ Duterte, who said he believed the former governor still has the heart to serve the country and Filipino people with genuine public service.

It was back in 2007 that Singson first expressed interest to run for senator, a move he described as a ‘fight’ against the family of his erstwhile friend, former president Joseph ‘Erap’ Estrada. He lost, however, and then decided to go back to local politics in his province.

Later, Singson to join the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC) in 2021 while serving as Narvacan mayor, but he did not run for any public post in the 2022 national elections, where former senator and now president Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr. won by landslide.

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RESIDENTS in Malabon are wondering why garbage in the city has remained uncollected in the past weeks and this is not the only concern they face as delivery of service remains delayed while the attention of the city’s local leadership is apparently focused somewhere else.

Observers say that Malabon City mayor Jeannie Sandoval’s disregard of the city’s current problems is possibly stemming from her mismanagement and misuse of public funds as Malabon’s garbage contractor remains reportedly unpaid, hence its stoppage of collecting the tons of trash the city generates every day.

People are now asking why the city government has reportedly failed to pay the garbage contractor when on record, Malabon is actually enjoying efficient revenue collection since Sandoval was elected as its local chief executive. This means the city does not lack in revenue to fulfill its financial commitments to better serve the public.

Aside from the delayed garbage collection, residents are also complaining about the prevalence of flooding in low-laying areas of the city which should have already been properly managed if the city government had looked into putting in place an effective flood control progam as well as an efficient garbage collection system.

But until now only a few initiatives have been done to achieve this despite its failure to respond effectively to recent storm surges and mounting garbage problems.

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