Department of the Interior and Local Government Secretary Benjamin Abalos Jr. has urged the public to make cleanliness a part of their everyday life following the successful launch of the “Kalinga at Inisyatiba para sa Malinis na Bayan” or KALINISAN program.

The DILG chief has also lauded the 33,403 barangays and the 1.616-million Filipinos who participated in the recent simultaneous launching of the program in various parts of the country.

“Let’s make this a way of life; we must be clean everywhere we go,” said Abalos as he commended Regions I, III and VII after 100 barangays in the regions participated in the “KALINISAN” program launch.

Citing a report from the DILG’s National Barangay Operations Office, Abalos said the program launch collected a total of 6.307-million kilograms of trash across the country, most of which came from Region VII (989,879 kilos); National Capital Region (866,773 kilos); and Region V (665,635 kilos).

On the other hand, the biggest contingent of participants came from Region 1 with 204,607 community residents, followed by Region VI with 181,611, and CALABARZON with 166,000 participants.

Abalos said the DILG is finalizing guidelines on the monitoring of weekly clean-up drives of all barangays nationwide as consultations will also be conducted with concerned agencies and offices to finalize the incentives, indicators, and assessment tools of the said program as part of the DILG’s move to award the cleanest barangays.

The nationwide launch of the “KALINISAN” program coincided with the celebration of the annual Community Development Day last 6 January 2024.

Meanwhile, Abalos expressed optimism that the Pasig River ferry service could help ease perennial traffic problems in Metro Manila but it will be realized once it is fully utilized as an alternative transport system at the National Capital Region.

The DILG chief received reports on the upturn of ridership of the Pasig River ferry service in the past year that reached 240,000 commuters using the alternative mode of transportation.