By Marita Moaje
MANILA – The Climate Change Commission (CCC) is urging government agencies and local government units (LGUs) to use coastal cleanup data to improve waste-management systems after more than 100,000 volunteers collected over 46 tons of garbage from waterways and coastal areas nationwide.
In a news release on Thursday, CCC Vice Chairperson and Executive Director Robert E.A. Borje cited data from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), noting that the national cleanup effort shows what close cooperation between government, communities, and the private sector can accomplish when working together.
“A successful cleanup should leave more than a clean shoreline. It should tell us what kinds of waste are reaching our waters, where they are coming from, and which policies, services and behaviors must change,” he said.
The CCC said the information could be used by the DENR, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), and LGUs to identify areas where garbage is leaking into waterways.
Borje said doing this would improve collection routes and schedules, and strengthen waste-management systems in barangays.
The data could also help agencies determine where to put interventions along drainage channels and rivers before waste reaches the sea.
Borje said the approach supports President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s call for predictive governance, or using available information to anticipate problems and guide government action.
In his 2026 State of the Nation Address, Marcos noted the importance of moving from reactive and proactive to a predictive approach as well, with the help of digital tools.
“Applied to waste management, predictive governance means using what we collect and learn today to prevent the same garbage from reaching our rivers and coastlines tomorrow,” Borje said.
“Prediction has value when it changes a decision. That’s how we produce and consume, how waste is collected, where interventions are positioned, and how responsibilities are enforced,” he added.
The CCC said coastal cleanups must be supported by measures such as waste reduction, segregation at source, reliable collection, recycling and composting, functioning materials-recovery facilities, producer responsibility and enforcement of waste-management policies.
It also called on businesses to reduce unnecessary packaging, redesign products, and comply with the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) Act.
The commission cited Balamban, Cebu, where the municipal government conducted coastal cleanup activities alongside the launch of CarbonPH, a restoration partnership between the Aboitiz Foundation and GCash GForest.
The partnership aims to grow one million trees and restore 1,200 hectares in Balamban.
Borje said the initiative shows how activities in upland areas can affect rivers and coastal ecosystems.
