On February 6, 2017, the people of Bgy. Macarascas in Puerto Princesa City celebrates its achievement as the first Zero Open Defecation (ZOD) barangay in the city and in the province of Palawan. The project is implemented in partnership with the Seaoil Foundation, Inc., the city government of Puerto Princesa and the A Single Drop for Safe Water. The project is the first of its kind being implemented by SFI and ASDSW in the province.
The project covers 10 pilot barangays namely; Bgys. Maunlad, Bancao-bancao, San Pedro, San Manuel and San Miguel, Macarascas, Buenavista, Bahile, Tagabinet and Cabayugan. The rural sanitary inspectors from the CLGU, along with barangay health workers and community volunteer sanitary inspectors were capacitated by ASDSW in the Phased Approach to Total Sanitation (PhATS) and are now raring to attain ZOD in their respective barangays. The CLGU created a verification team to support the validation and verification process and is actively involved in the process.
For an enabling environment, the CLGU Technical Working group is set to conduct WaSH planning on February 16-17 to further institutionalize and strengthen WaSH development in Puerto Princesa.
