To be honest, we are not sure whether this project is good or not. But since both the Mt Province provincial government and UNICEF believe that it is worth funding then maybe it is worth funding. What do you think?
Please note that we grabbed the picture above from a random website and that it doesn’t depict the toilet bowls that the provincial government is going to distribute. If our computation is correct that the budget for each bowl will be around P348, then we’re pretty sure that they will be distributing less fancy toilet bowls. The one in the picture is not actually fancy but you know what we mean.
UNICEF Donates Toilet Bowls
Preciosa Dumlao
AHN Writer
Bontoc, Philippines (AHN) – The provincial government of Mt. Province, Philippines, in partnership with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), has acquired 6,366 toilet bowls. They will be distributed to households without sanitary toilets.
This program came through the initiative of Governor Maximo B. Dalog. He made the request to Dr. Nicolas Alipui, Ambassador and representative of UNICEF, when Alipui visited the province last February.
The 6,366 toilet bowls cost $49,257.09.
With these donated toilet bowls, the governor is confident that before the year ends, all households without sanitary toilet will have one. The lack of a sanitary toilet is one indicator of poverty.
According to Engineer Jeronelio Orprecio of the Provincial Health Office, as of Dec. 2006, there were still 6,290 households in the province without sanitary toilets. That was despite an intensive campaign conducted by concerned agencies and a memo-order issued by Gov. Dalog to government employees and to local officials to construct their own sanitary toilet.
INFO SOURCE: AHN.
Bill, enlighten me like I am a nincompoop. How did Mountain Province manage not to make Chico another Pasig river when it has very few toilet bowls, and how did Manila or Pasig fail to keep Pasig River at par with Chico when it has so many toilet bowls? Me koneksyon ba? Kasi kung meron, wag na lang magdala ng toilet bowls sa MP. 🙂
Hahaha, Oo nga no! Ms. Chyt has a point.
I became curious myself with Mng. Chyt’s question. So I did a bit of internet searching and found the following interesting links: how stuff works, a 1995 World Bank Report comparing sewarage and sanitation between Jakarta and Manila, and an Asian Development Bank report detailing how Manila is coping with all of it’s crap in Pasig. hehe. Sorry for the pun . 😉 It was really enlightening to learn about how to deal with crap. hehe. Anyway, my understanding is that toilets are more sanitary than outhouses. That’s my understanding anyway from reading the links. The World Bank report and the ADB report gives some reasons why sewer water is getting into Pasig. I have no clue why chico river is not as polluted as pasig, but I’m guessing it could be related to population density.
i wonder if they also help install those things. if they just give those bowls then they should give it to those who can afford a bag of cement, gravel & sand and with little knowledge of plumbing. the trick is, those who can afford cement and gravel & sand are, by provincial standard, not really poor. =)
“Crap is 80% water.. and there are chemicals to take care of the 20%” – Kenny (the movie)
The difference between the two rivers is that Pasig is like a lake or bay so their dodos doesn’t go anywhere.
Chico River is a river and from my recollection, it comes from Sabangan (not sure where it originates from) and goes down to Gonogon, Alab, Dantay, Bontoc then it winds down all the way to Tabuk
and eventually the unlucky recipient of those much-unwanted-golden-treasures..hehe.
I’ve seen the Chico River at it’s wildest in Bontoc in the early 60’s
and the raging water is right on the samoki/bontoc bridge platform. So scary, very scary at that time.
Maybe Bill can give us an update of how the river looks during the rainy seasons. I’ve heard it’s drying up. Cheers….
There were plastic toilet bowls that were donated in our barrio years ago. Somehow, it helped but it was made sure that someone would check if they are installed after they were distributed.
Hi Chyt,
Hahaha. Good question. Let me try my best hehe, I think its partly population density as Wil suggests and partly our respect for nature or maybe fear of making the spirits angry, i.e., awnit mensaplit nan anito sik-a no aped ka men anok-a issa (the spirits will whip your ass if you are going to throw your waste in the river)… Thanks 🙂
Hi Lovelyn,
Oo nga. I haven’t thought of it. I’m glad she pointed it out.
Hi Wil,
Thanks for the links. Never thought there will be researches like that. Very interesting reads 🙂
Hi Edwin,
Hehe, nice quote 🙂 You have a point there about the installation process. I think I’ve seen some bowls just lying around because those to whom it was given can’t have it installed. Thanks.
Hi Trublue,
Thanks. Actually, the Chico River waste ending up in Tabuk has become and issue between the provincial governments of Kalinga and MP. Eh siyempre naman, nagcomplain ang mga tao sa Tabuk because the waste somehow ends up there. Hopefully we will all rediscover our respect for nature and stop throwing waste in the rivers.
When I was living in Bontoc, the water of the Chico almost reached the Samoki bridge during one typhoon. I should look for that picture.
Hi Abella,
I think the bowls that the Mt. Province govt will also be the plastic variety. Tama ka, dapat i-follow up kung talagang gagamitin pagkat sayang kung hindi magamit. Thanks. By the way, for some reason your profile is not showing a link to your blog. Was that your choice? Sayang kasi if others can’t read your blog because they can’t access it through your profile. Thanks 🙂
Bill, I asked an old man my question in a wellness clinic today. He said it could be because in some parts of the Cordillera, maid kasilyas ay water tanks (Pssttt- Ikalik sinan language id US ta baka wada mangbasa ay baken kadwa et ma-misinterpret da and they will iyaamis us. ) Nan kasilyas ket nan pigpen et nan toilet bowl et san pig. Derecho asnan mouth na san “crap”. Et into pay iman maiwasit si “crap” ad Chico no ninderecho siya asnan intestines nan baboy? Daet san “crap” di baboy, maiyey ad uma ta mangpataba as plants like the pechays we buy in the market. Which we eat and will become crap, ay menbalin food for the gods in the pigpen. Now that is what I call perfect symbiosis. I remember a line in the Pocahontas theme song Colors of the Wind that goes: “And we are all connected to each other, In a circle, in a hoop that never ends.”
Now, I appreciate the song better. 🙂
I’m all for natural shitting. You know, dig a hole, crap over it, cover with soil, plant a tree..(or let the seeds from your shit, grow…)
wows! you all know about t bowls and shit ha? good good good good! interesting shares!!
You have to be holistic met ah kanu on whether toilet bowl in every home as a quality of life measure counts or weighs more than otherways of measuring quality of life …attributed to albert enstein is the saying, “not all that is counted,counts”…
Ay ay saliddumay
Hi Chyt,
Hehehe, I can’t stop laughing. You’re correct of course. It really is a very fitting example of Pocahontas’ song. Thanks.
Hi Nashman,
Oo nga, very environmental. Thanks 🙂
Hi Anonymous (11:50),
Thanks. Hope you continue to join us. 🙂
Hi Anonymous (3:17)
Good point. It would be interesting to know how much statistical weight they put on toilet bowls in their quality of life studies. Thanks.
does donating toilet bowls includes fixing poso negro etc???? Just asking. I am not an Igorot but i do read your blogs and it’s amazing. hope i could make one too for my province