‘Karangahan’ Green Christmas ’12 kicks off Nov. 25
…zeroing in on family and safe environment

By Marlon A. Loterte

LEGAZPI CITY, Nov. 24 (PIA) – Karangahan sa Pasko: Albay Green Christmas kicks off Sunday, Nov. 25, marking a month-long holiday season celebration and advocacy campaign for healthy living, environment care and zero casualty goal in the province.

Albay Gov. Joey Salceda said this year’s Karangahan is zeroing in on fortifying family ties through showcase of numerous fun fares for every family and the entire community to indulge in for the holiday season and pursuing safe environment underlining ‘plastic-free, smoke-free and zero casualty from firecracker in the month-long revelry.

Karangahan is a Bicol term derived from the root word 'ranga', which refers to a higher level of joy and contentment, and later was used to mean endearment.

Salceda will lead the official opening of the Karangahan sa Pasko: Albay Green Christmas on Sunday night at Penaranda Park with the lighting of the 20-meter high Green Christmas Tree, a symbol that enjoys a central position in the Christmas celebration of Albayanos.

Karangahan is launched year after year with the lighting of this Green Christmas tree in a new concept that is assembled from over 3,000 Pili tree seedlings showcasing the campaign for proper solid waste management through a ‘no plastics – less garbage’ celebration.

Las Piñas Rep. Cynthia Villar and former Senator Miguel Zubiri will join the governor in the switching on the lights of the Green Christmas tree, while GMA-7 artist LJ Reyes and rock band Itchyworms will stage an entertainment show on the same opening night.

In 2010, Albay Green Christmas was held essentially to pursue advocacy for less pollution and reduced carbon emissions through ‘iwas paputok’ with zero casualty goal on holiday seasons and proper solid waste disposal through ‘no plastics and less waste revelries.

Salceda has since issued a memorandum to provincial government heads, employees and barangay officials strictly prohibiting the use and explosion of firecrackers and encouraging the use of organic and indigenous materials for decorations and food serving instead of plastics.

As the festivity evolves, new ingredients were added to bring out the bests in Albay and among Albayanos articulated last year by culinary arts and other cultural forms.

Of the many activities lined up of the Albay Green Christmas this year, of special interests anew are the Culinaria Albay that showcase Albay’s local cuisine and its world-competitive restaurants, Paskuhan Karangahan nightly entertainment, Luntiang Pasko garden show, Barangay on-site Green Christmas Belen contest, Pasko sa Kapitolyo-Agrikulturang Organiko, sports fests, trade fair, Albay art exhibition, Green Santa, sectoral day, among others.

Karangahan fittingly describes the relationship of Albayanos in the endearment (ranga) to its culture, arts, history and nature; collective and unrelenting advocacy for climate change adaptation, environmental protection; and sense of pride and attachment to place given its evolving dynamics of community-building. (MAL-PIA5/Albay)

Ground breaking ceremony held for waste-to-energy facility in Naga City

By Analiza S. Macatangay

NAGA CITY, Nov. 24 (PIA) -- A P3-billion facility will soon rise at Barangay San Isidro to address the problem on solid waste disposal that has beset this city for the past decade. 

A ground breaking ceremony for the construction of the said waste-to-energy facility has been held on Nov 22. Among those who attended were Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Carlos Jericho Petilla and Department of Natural Resources and Environment Secretary Ramon Paje, representatives of the CJ Global Green Energy of South Korea, Hitachi Zosen and several other Japanese firms and the local government of Naga City. 

The nod to proceed with the construction of the plant was finally given by the DOE after two (2) years of negotiations with the city government and the investors. 

The project will be under the build-operate-transfer scheme. The facility will be erected in the 5-hectare expanse of Barangay San Isidro, this city. 

The project, which will also generate 20 megawatts of electricity will also be instrumental in ensuring that environmental concerns will be properly addressed. For one, the facility will produce low-cost and environment-friendly electricity for the residents of Naga and its neighboring municipalities. 

The plant, once completed, is projected to produce 8 to 10 megawatts of electricity from 100 tons of garbage that will be collected daily. 

To complement and sustain this environmental endeavor, Ms. Farah Bongat, the city’s First Lady conducted a tree-planting activity through the Pilimania, a project under the city government’s Greening, Environmental Protection, Entrepreneurship, Tourism or GREET program which aims to mitigate carbon emission as pili trees exhibit a high carbon absorption rate, improve air shed quality and enhance the city’s One Town, One Product program, among others. 

Bongat also assured the residents particularly the Material Recovery Facility or MRF workers in Barangay Balatas that they will be properly taken cared of. Bongat was referring to the income earners who derive their living out of the garbage within the MRF area. 

“Before taking care of the environment, it is one of the city’s paramount concerns that we take the priority of ensuring that our people are protected, socially and economically. They have already set up capability building initiatives to capacitate them to shift to some other economic activities to have sustainable income,” Bongat said. 

A process called gasification will be employed in the use of the facility. 

Gasification is the conversion of solid carbon fuels and other solid wastes into their basic elements by thermochemical process. The garbage will all be loaded in a close chamber with a temperature of 2,000 degrees centigrade or higher enough to reduce its content back to their natural state. 

The facility is expected to produce not just electricity but also hot water, steam and hydrogen and methanol which can be used as LPG for households and transport vehicles. 

The project was initiated by the late SILG Jesse M. Robredo in 2010. (MAL/LSM-PIA5/Camarines Sur)