Besting 15 other entries, the plastic-finish Christmas tree of the clustered team of the Provincial Planning and Development Office and the Landbank Kidapawan Extension Office won the 1st prize of the “Krismas Tri, Galing sa Basura ‘To!, a Christmas tree-making contest spearheaded by the Provincial Solid Waste Management Board chaired by Cotabato Governor Emmylou “Lala” Taliño-Mendoza.

The winning entry, which is made of recyclable materials like used empty water bottles and their caps, romped away with the P10,000.00 top prize.

Sangguniang Panlalawigan’s paper-made Christmas tree won the 2nd prize of P6,500.00 while the “metal” tree of the Provincial Engineer’s Office is this year’s 3rd placer with P3,500.00 cash prize.

Metal, paper and plastic wastes all fall under the classification of recyclable wastes-the only materials allowed to be used in the said contest as a support to Republic Act 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000.

Mr. Edgar Paalan, the City Environment and Natural Resources Officer of Kidapawan City and one of the judges of the said competition, has lauded the provincial government for coming up with such contests which help make the campaign of the government on proper waste disposal successful.

“This contest does not only prove that there’s money and beauty in wastes but also helps in the waste diversion efforts of the government.  I thanked Governor Taliño-Mendoza for being so supportive of this particular undertaking”, Paalan said.

It can be recalled that after her oath-taking last June 30, Governor Emmylou “Lala” J. Taliño-Mendoza has led the cleaning of the capitol premises and later ordered the Technical Working Group of the Provincial Solid Waste Management Board to implement stricter waste disposal measures in the provincial capitol.

The “Krismas Tri, Galing sa Basura ’To” contest was launched last December 6.  Non-winning entries of the said competition received P500.00 consolation prize and certificate of participation.  //idcd-pgo/ozg//