Status of Waste Solid Management Implementation in Three Cities under the Manila Bay Rehabilitation Project

The study is descriptive research focused on the solid waste management cluster implementation of Solid Waste Management under the Manila Bay Rehabilitation Project in key cities in Nueva Ecija to benchmark the current management implementation of ABMP at the local level. This study assessed institutional, organizational, and technical aspects of local governance by the ABM plan. The three cities have increasing urbanization due to the development of growth corridors in Central Luzon. The economic growth attributes to the changes in the classification of barangays from rural to urban over the past decade. Cabanatuan City has the most rapid development being the center of business and trade. This conversion indicates an increase in infrastructure and industrial and commercial establishments. This economic growth attracts migration of the working population to the cities. Based on the Waste Characterization Reports of the cities, Cabanatuan City has an average generated waste per capita per day of 0.4 kg followed by San Jose City with 0.3 kg and Japan City with 0.2 kg.Solid waste management cluster implementation has been the focus of the local government units under the Manila Bay Rehabilitation Project. The result of the assessment shows the status of SWM implementation in the three cities on its institutional, organizational, and technical aspects. Gapan City has no institutionalized City ENRO to enforce the national and local policies. However, Cabanatuan City has a newly institutionalized City ENRO who headed the Environmental Protection Division (EDP) and enforced the local ordinances on solid waste management. San Jose City has an institutionalized system with separate funding allocation and enables to enforcement of local ordinances.Since Gapan has no institutionalized City ENRO, the assessment also shows a weak implementation of the technical aspect of SWM as compared to Cabanatuan City and San Jose City