Good sanitation will lead to economic growth - Villar

Sanitation is fundamental to both good health and social and economic growth, Sen. Cynthia A. Villar said as she stressed anew the importance of proper waste disposal and personal hygiene in achieving self-sufficiency.

Villar, who is the chairperson of the Senate committees on agriculture and food and environment and natural resources, urged families in crowded areas to start with the most simple types of sanitation.

"Let us start with ourselves. Let us start with our homes. Each of us should know and learn the value of hygiene and sanitation. Improved sanitation leads to less diseases, improved nutrition, reduced stunting, improved quality of life, healthier living environments, increased job opportunities and wages, improved competitiveness, and economic and social gains to society," Villar said.

She added: ‘Policy makers, development partners, and communities should act now to improve the current sanitation situation. We should work together to add this perennial problem which has been bogging down the lives of our poor countrymen."

Villar has been leading by example in her bid to inculcate proper sanitation in crowded areas. She is at the forefront in the establishment of sanitation facilities in Gasangan, Tondo in Manila in partnership with the Departments of Health (DOH), Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), and Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

Other partner agencies include the BFAR, BSWM, MMDA, Maynilad, Kabalikat sa Kaunlaran ng Baseco and the barangay officials of Gasangan and DZRH/MBC.

Villar recently spearheaded the distribution of the fourth tranche of toilet bowls to households in Gasangan, Barangay 649 in Baseco to address the problem of poor sanitation in the area, which has been made worse by the practice of open defecation due to the lack of toilet facilities.

Villar has been funding the construction of two septic tanks in the populous community.

After the turn-over of the toilets, Villar and representatives from her partner agencies held a tree-planting and clean-up of a nearby mangrove area to ensure the continuous flow of water in the vicinity to prevent the onset of water-borne diseases. The Cavitex donated 200 mangroves for replanting in the area.

Villar has adopted an area in Baseco, where she has been regularly planting mangrove trees and conducting clean-up activities in her bid to turn the compound into a model site for urban agriculture and aquaculture to help augment the income of residents.