Leonor de Dios, 48, of Barangay San Pataleon, Magarao, Camarines Sur, collect empty cans, bottles and other recyclable materials to contribute to the “Basura ko, Tulong ko” project in their community, in order to earn cash and use it to help other poor families.

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Recycling is one of the best ways to care for the environment and it is a shared responsibility of individuals in the community.

In Barangay San Pataleon, Magarao, Camarines Sur, recycling has been their primary goal. Family beneficiaries of Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program of the Department of Social Welfare and Development responsibly do their part in protecting the environment through collecting garbage’s in the neighborhood to create a positive impact on the world in which we live.

By safeguarding the environment and protecting the health of their kids from sicknesses and other forms of illnesses coming from wastes, they turn their trash into cash.

This concept “Basura ko, tulong ko,” is a movement formed by the said beneficiaries to encourage every individual in the community to make good use of scraps and other recyclable materials to earn and help other poor families in the community.

Trash into cash

During Family Development Session (FDS)—a monthly activity being conducted by the Program for educational, interpersonal, interactive and adult learning engagement that aims to empower and strengthen the relationship and ties among family members and the community, family beneficiaries bring along with them empty cans, bottles, used papers, plastics, metals and other recyclable materials.

They made a conscious effort of gathering all together their collected recyclable materials and later sold to a nearby junk shop. This simple community-wide movement helps lessen the wastes that end up in the landfills.

The beneficiaries think of it as their own simple way of helping save the environment. As a bonus, they earn money coming from the sale of recyclables and use it for special projects that benefit the whole community, specially the non-beneficiaries of Pantawid Pamilya.

“Naisip mi talaga ito tanganing makatabang man sa mga non-pantawid, ta ang kadaklan man samo nagtitios, sa arog kaito naibalik mi man su pagtabang samo, [We thought of it in order to support non-pantawid beneficiaries because they are also in need of help. In that way, we were able to return back the help provided to us], Leonor de Dios, 48, said, a resident and beneficiary of the Program.

Help provided from trash

Said community folks have been collecting garbage’s for almost two years. Last December 2013, they were able to earn P6,300 out of their collected garbage’s.

In addition, they were able to help about 16 non-pantawid beneficiaries in the community. “Sa P5,000 limang barangays na po natatabangan mi. Tapos, sa sarong pamilya, tinarawan mi po sinda nin grocery arog kan bagas, delata, asukar, sabon, noodles, biskwit, gatas, asin su mga pangangaipo ninda, [For an amount of P5,000 we were able to help five barangays. Then, for every household, we provided them with groceries such as rice, canned goods, sugar, soap, noodles, biscuits, milk, and the necessary things that they needed], Leonor said.

They also provided school supplies to students in their community. “Maogma po kami ta nakakatabang kami maski sa sadit na paraan. Tapos kadaklan samong residente nagrerecycle na ta su kwarta napapaduman man sana sa inda. [We are happy because we were able to help in our own simple way. Also, many of us (residents) do the recycling since the money earned will benefit them], she added.

According to Sally Llanera, municipal link, who is assigned in the said barangay, some Municipalities like Milaor and Baao, in Camarines Sur province, are inspired with the said movement and adopted the concept.

Their plans

Since they (beneficiaries) aim to help more poor families in the community, now, they plan to help each other by using the money they gained from trash as a capital in making rugs.

“Susublion man po sana ito na kwarta, tapos ibabalik man sana po tanganing su mga pamilyang benepisyaryo, kumita, asin magkaigwang trabaho. Tatawan mi sinda nin kapital na pwede nindang magamit sa pag-gibo nin rugs, [We will only borrow the money, but we will return it back so that we can help other family beneficiaries to earn and have a job. We will provide them with capital that they can use in making rugs], Leonor said.

According to Sally, these beneficiaries of the program were provided with livelihood training last November 2013, by the local government along rug making and ceramics. “Si Nanay Leonor kaiba duman sa training kaya saro siya sa mga nagturo sa kapwa niya benepisyaryo kun pano mag-gibo nin rugs, [Nanay Leonor was included in the training, so she is one of those who taught her co-beneficiaries on how to make rugs], she added.

Leonor said that she is overwhelmed of their “Basura ko, tulong ko,” project because they were able to do something good and help their community out of garbage’s. “Sana po mas dakol pa kaming matabangan kaining project tapos, patuloy ta tabi na padabaon an satong kapaligiran ta kita man sana an makikinabang kaan, [I hope we can help more people with this project and continue to love our environment since we are the ones who will benefit from it], Leonor stated.

Pantawid Pamilya is a program that invests in human capital that is contributory to poverty-reduction. It provides cash grants of P500 grant in health and P300 in education for a family that has three children, ages 0 to 14, enrolled in the program.

The qualified beneficiaries will be able to claim the grants if they comply with set conditions strictly required by the program. As of December 31, 2013, Pantawid Pamilya has a total of 359,069 registered household beneficiaries in seven cities and 107 municipalities in 16 congressional districts in all six provinces of Bicol Region. ***G.A.N.L., information officer