Iloilo City is steadily pushing toward its goal of a cleaner, healthier future — and it’s making real progress. As of the latest validation by the Department of Health and the city’s Zero Open Defecation (ZOD) team, 98 out of 180 barangays have already reached ZOD status. That’s 54.44 percent of the city now officially free from open defecation.

For Jennifer Christie Avenir, head of the Environmental Sanitation Division of the City Health Office, the mission is clear: by next year, at least 90 percent of all barangays should be at Level 1 ZOD.

“Level 1 means there should be no open defecation and no exposed feces in the environment,” Avenir explained. “A household toilet — shared or communal — must be available.”

Sounds simple enough, but one area continues to pose a challenge: the coastal villages.

The coastal struggle

“One of the requirements is having toilets connected to septic tanks, and this is where our coastal areas struggle,” Avenir admitted.

Most of the city is already compliant. As of 2024, 95.04 percent of the city’s 99,728 households have toilets with septic tank connections. The remaining less than 5 percent — mostly informal settler families living along the shoreline — are still without proper facilities.

And the consequences are real.

Many households in these zones still dispose of feces directly into rivers or drainage systems.

“Once there is open defecation, our water sources can be contaminated,” Avenir warned, pointing to the risk of acute gastroenteritis and other waterborne diseases.

Changing behavior

To close the gap, the City Health Office is doubling down on community education.

During validation drives, its teams focus more intensely on at-risk areas — talking to households, emphasizing sanitation and explaining the health dangers tied to poor waste disposal.