Garbage in, garbage out

IF irony had a landfill, Cagayan de Oro’s new garbage contractor, Standard Systems, would have just dumped the first load.

On its grand debut as the city’s newest waste management savior, Standard Systems managed to prove that trash collection is, indeed, an art — an abstract one. 

Within 24 hours, its shiny new fleet was already making headlines: one truck crashed, another couldn’t fit through the city’s narrow streets, and a third — the star of the show — reportedly lacked an OR-CR. Because what better way to haul garbage than with an unregistered vehicle?

This, of course, from the same administration that promised a “qualified service provider to collect, haul, and dispose of municipal solid waste and perform street sweeping across all 80 barangays,” as the Bids and Awards Committee proudly stated. 

The City Local Environment and Natural Resources Office even assured us that “this contract seeks to maintain the city’s cleanliness, safeguard public health, and minimize environmental hazards.”

Maybe they meant emotional hazards, because residents are certainly feeling trash trauma now.

The Terms of Reference (TOR) also required that “all trucks must have LTO registration, GPS, warning devices, sound systems, and proper markings.” 

It’s hard to miss the poetry there — a registered truck requirement for a contractor whose truck can’t even pass an LTO checkpoint. 

Perhaps the missing registration is part of a “minimalist” compliance strategy.

Then there’s the matter of those 10-wheeler dump trucks. According to the TOR, Standard Systems must field “20 units of 10-wheeler dump trucks (22 cubic meters)” to serve the city. 

A noble idea, if Kagay-an’s inner barangays weren’t built like a maze for matchbox cars. Watching a 10-wheeler attempt a U-turn in Macasandig or Lapasan is like watching a whale try to swim in a kiddie pool — majestic, but tragic.

And the pièce de résistance? The accidents. Multiple, on day one. Because nothing says “operational readiness” like trash trucks colliding with parked cars before they even reach the dump. You can almost hear the city’s P90-million project budget whisper, “I told you so.”

Still, let’s be fair. Maybe it’s all part of the plan — a high-stakes performance art piece titled “The Hauling of Accountability.” 

After all, the TOR warns that “violations such as missed collection schedules, uncovered trucks, or unclean vehicles incur P5,000 per day per violation.” 

By that measure, the city might finally earn something back from this contract — in penalties.

Meanwhile, Kagay-anons, who were promised “daily garbage collection and street sweeping citywide” and a minimum of “315 tons per day” of trash cleared, now find themselves tiptoeing around plastic mountains, wondering if they should just rent their own tricabs to finish the job.

Kagay-an didn’t want much — just clean streets and working trucks. What it got instead was a crash course in how not to run a waste management system. 

But hey, at least the garbage isn’t lonely. 

It’s got plenty of company now — bureaucracy, incompetence, and a few dented parked cars.

Because here in the City of Golden Friendship, even the trash gets a warm welcome.

Goodbye, George

“In the fear and alarm, you did not desert me, my brother in arms.” ― Dire Straits, Brothers in Arms [1985]

 I LOST a dear friend. George Bagsic, one of the popular folksingers in the city died of cardiac arrest on Friday night.

 He told me his family was into folk music in Olongapo. His partner, who had since become his intimate partner, is a resident here. He relocated here in Cagayan de Oro after a contracted gig in South Korea.

 We first met under competitive circumstances. There was an acoustic playing contest in Butuan City and I enlisted as a contestant. He wasn’t but I was determined to outplay him — in musician’s lingo — lagyan. But he rose to the challenge. He also played his best piece.

 Weeks later, I saw him fetching water in our neighborhood communal faucet. We were both surprised that we were neighbors. From then on our friendship flourished. He became my brother from another mother.

 I remember that time when we broke in my brand new component. We used an LCD projector and enjoyed a concert like we were there by sitting on the floor, with a picnic like banig with a bottle of rum, ice, and two glasses.

 The skill he taught me with the guitar will his legacy to me. I remember he taught me one particularly difficult A chord structure — A major 9th dominant +13. He also taught me the creative phraseology of certain melodies.

 His last text message to me was on March 16. It was a memo for the performers at a resto-bar he was playing at.

 “Please be advised that our acoustic (performances) will be suspended…starting tomorrow March 17, 2020. Wait for further notice (when) to resume,” the memo reads.

 He was anxious because he lived from gig to gig. He had no day job like I had when I used to “lagare” the local bars with him before. Music was literally his bread and butter.

BURGOS STREET MUSIC COLLECTIVE

 With the bars in Cagayan de Oro closing as part of the preventive measures in containing the contagion, he was clearly in dire straits. He was at his wit’s end as to where to get the money to buy their next meal. His heart gave out.

 When I replied with a sad emoticon to his text message, he replied with a smiling emoticon with a halo. Rest easy, my dear friend. You will be missed.