Puerto Princesa City learns social marketing for proper septage management

USAID’s Strengthening Urban Resilience for Growth with Equity (SURGE) Project assists Puerto Princesa City’s Septage Management Committee and Technical Working Group in conducting household surveys, providing capacity building through septage management learning visits, and updating the water district’s septage feasibility study. On September 16 to 17, 2019, around 30 representatives from various offices of the city government and the water district participated in a social marketing training conducted by USAID/SURGE. Key officers from the Puerto Princesa City government and the Puerto Princesa City Water District are now equipped with knowledge and skills in social marketing to gain the acceptance and support of citizens for septage-related services. During the training, the participants gained a deeper understanding of social marketing and design thinking and learned how to curate a communication campaign for proper septage management. The participants created catchy slogans, campaign look and feel, identified channels of communication, and initial communication design plans which can serve as baseline for the social marketing campaign. The city government has a joint venture agreement with the Ecosystem Technologies Inc. and JCA 1221 Holdings Corporation to establish and implement the city’s septage and wastewater treatment systems. Once completed, the septage treatment system will have a capacity of 70 cubic meters per day and will cater to more than 25,000 households in the city. The campaign aims to instill the health, environmental, and economic values of proper septage management.