COTABATO CITY (May 24, 2021) — The Ministry of Environment, Natural Resources, and Energy (MENRE) – BARMM, in partnership with the Ministry of Interior and Local Government (MILG) and the Ministry of Health (MOH), conducted on 21 May 2021 a preparatory meeting for the Roll-Out of Guidelines on the Management of COVID-19-Related Health Care Wastes.

As part of the National Solid Waste Management Commission (NSWMC) Resolution No. 1364 series of 2020 “Adopting the Interim Guidelines on the Management of COVID-19 Related Health Care Waste”, the Department of Interior and Local Government also issued Memorandum Circular (MC) No. 2020-147 which provides Local Government Units (LGU) comprehensive information on their roles, duties, and responsibilities on the proper handling and management of all COVID-19-related health care wastes.

The meeting highlighted the MC’s salient features such as the LGUs’ role on proper waste segregation at source and treatment. The Ministries agreed upon what coordinated strategies to implement in ensuring the compliance of the LGUs to the MC.

The MILG, with the technical assistance of MENRE and MOH, is expected to roll out the MC to all LGUs in BARMM by 28 May 2021.

This activity is a prelude to the series of actions that the Bangsamoro Government will be undertaking to assure the delivery of services of LGUs in handling contaminated and infectious wastes in the region.