The recovery of 760 kilograms of plastic waste from the Batiano River, as reported by this paper yesterday, is not just an environmental red flag — it is a damning indictment of local governance and a wake-up call that Iloilo City’s waste management system is faltering where it matters most. For years, the city government has championed cleanliness campaigns, tree-planting drives, and weekly clean-up days. These are laudable. But when nearly a ton of plastic is pulled from a single river, it lays bare a harsh reality: the city is not solving the problem; it is merely sweeping it downstream.

The Editorial Board. (2025, July 16). Plastic in rivers, failure in governance [Editorial]. Panay News, p. 6.