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LOCAL GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS PERCEPTIONS AND ATTITUDES TOWARDS

SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT IN DASMARIÑAS, CAVITE, PHILIPPINES

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Janet Macawile and Glenn Sia Su, 2009. Local Government Officials Perceptions and Attitudes Towards
ISSNSolid Waste
0126-2807
Management in Dasmariñas, Cavite, Philippines.

Volum e 4, Num ber 1: 63- 69, Januar y- Apr il, 2009

© T2009 Department of Environmental Engineering
Sepuluh Nopember Institute of Technology, Surabaya
& Indonesian Society of Sanitary and Environmental Engineers, Jakarta
Open Access http://www.trisanita.org

Research Paper

LOCAL GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS PERCEPTIONS AND ATTITUDES

TOWARDS SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT IN DASMARIÑAS, CAVITE,
PHILIPPINES

JANET MACAWILE1 and GLENN SIA SU2*

1De La Salle University, Dasmariñas, Cavite, Philippines
2De La Salle University, 2401 Taft Avenue, Manila, Philippines
*Corresponding Author: Phone/fax: +63-2-536-0228. Email: glss76@yahoo.com.

Received: 23rd February 2009; Revised: 7th April 2009; Accepted: 7th April 2009

Abstract: Inefficient waste management in the Philippines brings implications affecting

environment and public health. This study aims to examine local government officials’
perceptions and attitudes towards their community’s solid waste management and
detect whether gender differences exist on the perceptions and attitudes of local
government officials. A cross-sectional study design was used. Twenty-one randomly
selected communities from the municipality of Dasmariñas, Cavite and local government
officials purposively selected were surveyed. Generally men and women local
government officials’ perceptions and attitudes towards solid waste management are not
significantly different from each other (p>0.05). Local government officials of
Dasmariñas, Cavite recognized the importance of implementing a solid waste
management program. Men and women have equal roles, responsibilities, perceptions
and attitudes towards their community’s solid waste management. Respondents
recognized that attaining sustainable waste management is a joint responsibility of the
government and its community members.

Keywords: Attitude, gender, Local Government, perception, solid waste management

INTRODUCTION

In the Philippines, there are 770 million people generating an average of 0.3 to 0.7 kilograms
of garbage [1] daily and this amount is expected to increase by 40% at the end of the decade [2].
The Southern Tagalog Region where the municipality of Dasmariñas, Cavite belongs contributes
to one of the highest bulks of the country’s solid waste generated of 13 percent [3].
The inefficient waste management in the country results to the piling up of trash and
contributes to the deterioration of the country’s environment and bringing about impacts affecting
public’s health. According to Huhtala [4], the issue of solid waste in the country creates problems

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Journal of Applied Sciences in Environmental Sanitation, 4 (1): 63-69.
Janet Macawile and Glenn Sia Su, 2009. Local Government Officials Perceptions and Attitudes Towards Solid Waste
Management in Dasmariñas, Cavite, Philippines.

that results to the contamination of ground water sources, creating obnoxious odors and aesthetic
deterioration. The solid waste problem in the municipality creates an environment that is
unhygienic and poor in environmental sanitation contributing to the generation of numerous public
health problems like typhoid fever, cholera, dysentery, tuberculosis, parasitism, malaria,
respiratory ailments and dengue.
The continuous growth in population, the rising generation rate of every Filipino and the
characteristics of solid wastes generated create a managerial problem for both the National and
Local government authorities [3]. Several measures on waste control have been undertaken in
the past but there is still a need to formulate a better and comprehensive means of managing the
solid waste in the country particularly that of Dasmariñas, Cavite. To date, the government has
undertaken steps to fix the escalating problem of solid waste. The main agencies implementing
solid waste management (SWM) are the Department of Environment and Natural Resources
(DENR) and the Local Government Units (LGUs). The LGUs are guided on the existing legal
frameworks involving the SWM and these are Republic Act No. 9003, otherwise known as the
“Philippine Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000” and the DENR Administrative Order
No. 2001-34 or the “Implementing rules and regulations of R.A. 9003.” In the enactment of the
Philippine Ecological Solid Waste Management Act, LGUs of the municipality of Dasmariñas,
Cavite where given the means to develop a comprehensive measure to manage their solid waste
problem. The law states the important role of the National and Local Governments in dealing with
the growing solid waste problem. The law also imparts the important integration of the
interrelated components dealing with the management of solid wastes particularly that of waste
collection and transfer, waste treatment and waste disposal.
Amidst the enactment of the Philippines Ecological Solid Waste Management Act, national
and local government agencies collaborate with the public stakeholders so as to undertake a
sustainable waste management. Establishing the perceptions and attitudes of the local
government officials implementing the law help bridge the existing gaps on the present
perceptions and attitudes of law makers particularly on the confronting issues involved in the
management of the municipality’s solid waste problem.
A conscious effort is needed that would incorporate the interests of both the leaders and the
public in understanding their roles, relationships and contributions through their perceptions and
attitudes as all are recognized as important stakeholders in attaining a sustainable
environmentally oriented effort. In the past, most have concentrated on determining the general
public’s knowledge, attitudes and perceptions towards an environmental program, it is time to
look at the associated perceptions and attitudes of the local government officials themselves for
they are our leaders and who are responsible in overseeing the programs towards attaining
sustainability. Understanding their perceptions and attitudes helps as it reflects the lawmakers’
efforts and actions [5] towards their communities. Generally, the objective of this study is to
examine the perceptions and attitudes of local government officials and whether gender
differences exist and affects their perceptions and attitudes towards attaining sustainable solid
waste management initiatives.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The municipality of Dasmariñas, Cavite is about 8,234 hectares and is situated 12 kilometers
from the National Capital Region. The municipality of Dasmariñas is bounded by the municipality
of Imus, Cavite in the north, the municipality of Silang, Cavite in the south, the province of Laguna
in the east and the municipality of General Trias, Cavite in the west.

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Journal of Applied Sciences in Environmental Sanitation, 4 (1): 63-69.
Janet Macawile and Glenn Sia Su, 2009. Local Government Officials Perceptions and Attitudes Towards Solid Waste
Management in Dasmariñas, Cavite, Philippines.

Fig. 1: The study site

The study sites were randomly selected through the use of rolling identical pieces of paper
with the community’s name in it, and then drawing the names of the community after the pieces of
paper had been thoroughly mixed. A total of 21 communities from the municipality of Dasmariñas,
Cavite was randomly selected and was included in the study. The randomly selected
communities are those of Salitran, and San Jose in the western section and Langkaan and
Sampaloc in the southern section of the municipality of Dasmariñas, Cavite and communities of
the Dasmariñas Bagong Bayan comprising of San Antonio De Padua II, San Nicolas I and II, San
Francisco I and II, San Simon, Luzviminda II, Sta. Cruz I, San Lorenzo Ruiz I, San Andres II, Sta.
Cristina I, San Mateo, Bautista, San Roque, Paliparan, Sta. Fe, and Fatima.
The respondents of the study were local government officials that were purposively selected
from the randomly selected study sites of the municipality of Dasmariñas, Cavite. A total of 50
purposively selected local government officials comprising of community leaders, councilors and
health officers were surveyed.
A self-administered questionnaire was used to assess local government officials’ attitudes,
perceptions and practices towards the solid waste problem, the solid waste management and the
implication of the solid waste problem to public’s health and environment. The self-administered

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Journal of Applied Sciences in Environmental Sanitation, 4 (1): 63-69.
Janet Macawile and Glenn Sia Su, 2009. Local Government Officials Perceptions and Attitudes Towards Solid Waste
Management in Dasmariñas, Cavite, Philippines.

questionnaire employs the Likert Scale in determining the attitudes, perceptions and level of
concern of local government officials. The self-administered questionnaire was pre-tested prior to
its distribution to the respondents of the study.
Pre-tested questionnaire was distributed to local government officials. An ocular survey was
conducted to observe the current situation of the municipality’s solid waste problem and
management. Both primary and secondary data were collected. To detect differences between
groups we applied the Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney U-Test. A P-value less than 0.05 have been
considered statistically significant. All statistical analyses were performed using the Statistical
Package for Social Sciences (SPSS).

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

From a total of 50 local government officials purposively selected from 21 randomly selected
communities of the municipality of Dasmariñas, Cavite, 25 are males and 25 are females.
Majority of respondents (88%) surveyed are working as community leaders and 12% are working
as community health officers.
All respondents showed great concern on the problem of solid waste in their respective
communities however only 40% of those surveyed perceived that the solid waste problem could
be mitigated through its segregation at its point source. Majority of respondents (60%) surveyed
strongly agree that the problem of solid waste can be mitigated better if segregation is
accompanied with recycling. Fifty six per cent of respondents’ states that the community needs to
practice waste segregation regularly. More than half (54%) of respondents perceived that
instituting waste management measures are essential to help clean the community’s
environment.
Majority (66%) of respondents also strongly agree that implementing the health and
environmental ordinances in their respective communities conscientiously can alleviate the
problem of solid waste in their municipality. About 52% of respondents greatly perceive that the
initiation and the responsibility of resolving their community’s solid waste problems lies in the
hands of the community leaders and its members. Forty six percent of respondents strongly
agree that they themselves as local government officials facilitate in cleaning or solving the
problems of their respective community including that of their solid waste problem. About 38% of
respondents hardly perceive that if the solid waste problem is not effectively managed it will bring
about water- and food-borne diseases that can heighten the cases of morbidities and mortalities
affecting their respective communities. All respondents strongly agree that instituting proper and
sustainable waste management is a practical way to prevent the piling up of solid waste and the
occurrences of diseases in their respective communities.
Fifty eight percent of respondents likewise greatly perceive that their communities’ waste
must be managed sustainably through efficient waste collection and transfer, waste treatment
and waste disposal measures to avoid the possible consequences brought about by the problem
of solid waste. All respondents strongly agree that discipline is needed to effectively implement
programs and schemes that will deal with the community’s solid waste. Majority (92%) of
respondents stated that programs like holding community seminars, raising ecologically livelihood
program funds through utilizing recyclable wastes (90%), and in engaging in clean-up activities
(96%) help sustain the solid waste management program of their respective communities. The
Local Government Officials (92%) recognize the need to educate the public about the problem of
solid waste as this helps in raising the public’s awareness about the problem. Public support
towards helping in alleviating the impacts of the problems particularly on solid waste can only be

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Journal of Applied Sciences in Environmental Sanitation, 4 (1): 63-69.
Janet Macawile and Glenn Sia Su, 2009. Local Government Officials Perceptions and Attitudes Towards Solid Waste
Management in Dasmariñas, Cavite, Philippines.

possible if the public is knowledgeable about the problem and the management goals of the
government [6]. Majority (88%) of respondents strongly agree that they encourage their
community to take part and practice waste segregation at source however, 4% of the
respondents states that they do not encourage their constituents to practice waste management
at source. All the respondents recognized that community involvement is vital in practicing waste
management. Majority of respondents (96%) strongly agree that it is a joint responsibility of the
government particularly the local government officials and the community members so as to
attain a sustainable waste management system [7] in their municipality. Ninety-four per cent of
respondents strongly agree that their community needs a sustainable waste management plan
and prefers to build a material recovery facility for their community.
The Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney U Test (Table 1) presents for Sex grouping variable that
generally men and women local government officials’ perceptions and attitudinal scores are not
significantly different from each other (p>0.05). Results also showed that women respondents
greatly encourage their constituents to practice waste segregation at source as compared to the
men respondents (p< 0.05).

Table 1: Solid Waste Management Perception and Attitudes of Local Government Officials in
Dasmarinas, Cavite, Philippines
Issues Mann-Whitney U Wilcoxon W Z test p-value
Segregation of waste is 200.000 525.000 -2.325 0.020*
important
Segregation cleans the 229.000 554.000 -1.796 0.073
environment
Dirty environment 241.000 566.000 -1.472 0.141
brings problems to public’s
health
Joint Responsibility in 171.500 496.500 -3.016 0.003*
waste management
Implement health and 205.000 530.000 -2.492 0.013*
environmental ordinances
Practice waste 246.000 571.000 -1.349 0.177
segregation regularly
Willingness to 312.500 637.500 0.000 1.000
implement and participate
waste management
programs
Discipline is needed in 312.500 637.500 0.000 1.000
the implementation of waste
management
Waste management is 242.500 567.500 -1.693 0.090
a practical way in preventing
accumulation of solid waste
and diseases
Facilitate and 185.500 510.500 -3.147 0.002*
participate in clean-up
activities
Encourage community 165.000 490.000 -3.144 0.002*
to practice waste
management at source
Prefer to build MRF for 282.500 607.500 -0.663 0.507
the community
* P value is significant.

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Journal of Applied Sciences in Environmental Sanitation, 4 (1): 63-69.
Janet Macawile and Glenn Sia Su, 2009. Local Government Officials Perceptions and Attitudes Towards Solid Waste
Management in Dasmariñas, Cavite, Philippines.

Women respondents saw segregation an important measure in mitigating the growing solid
waste problem as compared to the male respondents (p < 0.05). Female respondents are more
engaged in facilitating and participating in activities that solve the solid waste problems of their
respective communities as compared to male respondents (p < 0.05). There are some
perspectives of solid waste management that are different between the gender groups however,
generally no gender specificity has been delineated in terms of what the men and women would
do and perceive towards their community’s solid waste management programs. It is likely that
gender may be an important factor affecting one’s environmental concern as a study [8] indicates
that women may show higher environmental concern than men.
The Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000 (RA 9003) emphasizes solid waste
avoidance and the reduction of solid waste volume through source reduction and waste
minimization measures. In this effect, the community local government officials from the
municipality of Dasmariñas, Cavite recognized that their respective communities need a solid
waste management schemes for their respective subsidiaries, which include, among others,
waste reduction strategies that encompasses segregation, re-using, and recycling so as to
protect public health and the environment. Survey results showed no significant differences for
gender (p> 0.05) on the local government officials’ perceptions and attitudes towards their
community’s solid waste problem. Responses also revealed no gender specificity as delineated
by what the men and women would do in the solid waste management programs in their
community. Respondents continue to perceive that the roles, responsibilities and contributions of
men and women are equal. The equitable gender perceptions and attitudes as identified in the
study present that men and women have opinions that are now involved in numerous activities
both at home and in the community including that of solid waste management.

CONCLUSION

The study examined local government officials’ perceptions and attitudes towards the solid
waste problem in their respective communities. The study also determined whether gender
differences affect the perceptions and attitudes of local government officials towards the solid
waste management in their respective communities. The study showed that respondents’
perception, attitudes and primary concern of why they engage in waste management is because
they value cleanliness and they want to mitigate the possible disease occurrences. The study
presents that generally men and women have equal roles and responsibilities in the management
of their community’s solid wastes. No gender specificity roles in the Local government officials’
solid waste management initiatives were observed. Respondents recognized that attaining a
sustainable waste management is a joint responsibility of the government and its community
members.

Acknowledgement: We would like to express our sincerest gratitude to all who have assisted and
supported this study particularly the LGUs of the Municipality of Dasmariñas, Cavite, Philippines.

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Management in Dasmariñas, Cavite, Philippines.

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Journal of Applied Sciences in Environmental Sanitation, 4 (1): 63-69.
 Janet Macawile and Glenn Sia Su, 2009. Local Government Officials Perceptions and Attitudes Towards Solid Waste
Management in Dasmariñas, Cavite, Philippines.

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