Baguio’s ‘Pansa-Nopen’ efforts continue to impress foreign benefactors
Baguio City’s sustained push toward a circular economy under its “Pansa-nopen Tayo” initiative continues to gain strong support and recognition from international partners following a visit by officials of the European Union-Philippines Green Economy Partnership (EU-PH GEP) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) on December 2-3, 2025.
Dr. Moeko Saito-Jensen, project manager of the EU-PH GEP of the UNDP, described Baguio as the “star local government unit” of the project citing the city’s concrete progress and strong policy direction.Meanwhile, EU-PH GEP officials Dr. Marco Gemmer, head of delegation and Tsvetomir Svilenov, programme manager, expressed their intention to return to Baguio in February next year to further assess and support ongoing initiatives.
The delegations were in the city last Dec. 3, 2025 for a project mission and while here, they witnessed the launching of the city’s program-supported Circular Economy (CE) food hub, personally handed over the six vehicles to advance plastics circularity and visited the Black Soldier Fly (BSF) facility and the ongoing development of the Happy Hollow heritage coffee upcycling project. Both projects are supported by the program.
During the visit, the city led by Mayor Benjamin Magalong reported on the program accomplishments citing continuing efforts to reduce the volume of waste transported monthly to the Urdaneta landfill—an impact that began to be felt in the early months of 2025.
City officials remain optimistic that once EU-PH Green Economy Partnership-supported enabling mechanisms, including policy implementation and the operation of facilities and equipment, are fully in place, a sustained decrease in daily waste generation will be achieved.
Among the initiatives highlighted were partnerships between urban farmers and the private sector to establish a farm-to-table supply chain that promotes sustainable production and consumption, as well as support for green jobs through the employment of 35 volunteer waste workers out of a target of 200.
The city is also advancing the implementation of the Extended Producers’ Responsibility (EPR) Act (Republic Act 11898) through partnerships with a private company and is now working on plastic waste tracking and recovery to enable the generation of certified plastic credits.
In terms of organics management, Baguio continues to operate its existing BSF facility while constructing three additional BSF facilities supported by the EU-PH GEP.
Policy development remains a cornerstone of the city’s circular economy strategy. These include the formulation and implementation of guidelines such as the Pansa-nopen Tayo ordinance, an EPR executive order, a proposed food waste ordinance and a proposed food-for-plastic ordinance. These measures are being integrated with development tools to mainstream circular economy principles across city government operations.
An aggressive campaign for circular economy education and behavioral change is also ongoing, in partnership with universities and the Department of Education, alongside multi-sector engagement in circular economy co-design processes.
The visiting delegation included representatives from the European Union Delegation to the Philippines, UNDP and the EU-PH GEP. Among them were UNDP Resident Representative Ad Interim Dr. Knut Ostby, LGU and Stakeholder Engagement Specialist Dr. Marjorie Balay-as, Project Analyst Engr. Ricardo Alindayo II and Communications Specialist Mr. Earl Paulo Diaz. – Aileen P. Refuerzo
