Naga City rolls out expanded program to professionalize barangay solid waste operations

TESDA-led training under Trash Free Pilipinas targets long-standing execution gaps in barangay waste systems.

Naga City is testing a different approach to one of the country’s most persistent local government problems, turning solid waste rules into day-to-day execution on the ground.

Part of the response is the new Solid Waste Management Operations Level III training program rolled out under the expanded Trash Free Pilipinas Program framework.

It’s an attempt to professionalize a function that has long been treated as purely administrative. The training is designed to equip barangay officials and frontline workers with operational skills in segregation systems, materials recovery facility operations, community education campaigns, enterprise development, and local policy design, with outputs including actual barangay solid waste management plans.

This is important as barangays continue to face operational shortcomings in segregation, planning, and materials recovery despite the requirements of Republic Act 9003.

The project is a collaboration among Coca-Cola Philippines, TESDA, the Naga City government, and Camarines Sur Institute of Fisheries and Marine Sciences (CASIFMAS).

TESDA leads curriculum development and accreditation standards, CASIFMAS handles local delivery, the Naga City government provides coordination and community integration, while Coca-Cola Philippines supports framework development and pilot implementation work.

Naga City’s selection as the initial expanded rollout site is also strategic. The city already has functioning waste systems and active community participation, making it less of a pilot in theory and more of a stress test for whether structured training can deepen existing capacity rather than build it from scratch.

Since its early iterations in 2022, the program has also expanded, linking skills development with potential livelihood pathways tied to waste recovery and small enterprise activity.

The underlying question this rollout raises is whether the country’s waste management challenge is really about policy gaps, or whether it is increasingly about execution capacity at the smallest unit of governance.

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