Sad Fact: More Filipinos with Cellphones than Functional Toilets

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Sad Fact: More Filipinos with Cellphones than Functional Toilets
by Bam Azores \| 14-01-2018 01:24 0
I was watching the news where they featured a story about Baseco compound, which is a squatters area along Manila Bay. This is an area on the shores of Manila Bay, which is densely populated by illegal settlers. The Bay has a natural harbour located around the Philippine capital city of Manila. The sad fact according to the news is that Baseco homes do not have functional toilets. When they interviewed the residents, they said they would just go and defecate outside their homes. Actually, according to the Department of Health (DOH) about 7 million people still practice open defecation and the DOH hopes to achieve a zero open defecation status by the year 2022. What struck me in the feature was what the Secretary Francisco Duque III of the Department of Health had said a few months prior that "[w]e have more Filipinos with mobile phones than those with functional toilets." He said this during the celebration of World Toilet Day. According to the Secretary, the Philippine Statistics Authority said "70% of (Filipino) families have improved toilets that they do not share with other households", which is compared to "84% of Filipino households that claim to own cell phones". I remember a project that won in the 2017 Enactus World Cup in London last year about eradicating open defecation in the urban slums of India. This project of the Enactus team in Shaheed Sukhdev College made innovations on the management of community toilet complexes, which provides safe sanitation in the partner communities. Maybe, in a place like Baseco Compound, the concept of community toilet complexes might be a solution to the problem of open defecation.

Dormant user Bam Azores

3 Comments

says :
Hi, Bam! It is surprising to think that cell phones are more widespread than toilets, since toilets have been around far before the invention of cell phones, and because toilets are more closely related to our basic needs. I guess the reason that cell phones are easier to obtain is because while one can simply go to the store to get a cell phone, getting a toilet is not as simple. There has to be a whole plumbing and sewage system in order to have a functioning toilet. The piping, plumbing, and sewage systems must be installed and taken care of at a governmental level. I hope that the Filipino government can find a solution to the problem. The community toilet complexes that you've mentioned in your report may be one solution! :) Thanks for your report!
Posted 03-02-2018 20:52