By CHRIS V. PANGANIBAN
SAN FRANCISCO, Agusan del Sur — The Municipality of San Francisco has been officially certified as a Grade I Zero Open Defecation (ZOD) town by the Provincial Government of Agusan del Sur during the 2025 World Toilet Day observance on Wednesday.
The certification confirms that all households in San Francisco now have access to sanitary toilets and that open defecation has been completely eliminated, based on recent barangay-level verification.
World Toilet Day, observed annually on November 19, highlights the importance of proper sanitation in preventing diseases caused by poor hygiene. In the Philippines, diarrhea, intestinal infections, and other sanitation-related illnesses remain major public health concerns, particularly in underserved communities.
The Department of Health (DOH) leads the ZOD program nationwide, promoting proper waste disposal and hygiene practices to reduce these diseases. San Francisco’s Grade I certification signifies that every household now has a functional sanitary toilet and practices basic hygiene, such as handwashing.
“This milestone reflects the joint efforts of the local government, the Municipal Health Office led by Dr. Ed Anthony Lapay, and our sanitation workers deployed across the municipality,” Mayor Grace Carmel Paredes-Bravo said.
Bravo added that while the town has achieved full ZOD status, the municipal government will continue monitoring newly built houses to ensure toilets are installed. “Even without new structures, we will make sure that no residents dispose of their personal waste outside their homes,” she said in an online interview.
The mayor noted that the most challenging areas during the program’s rollout last year were the town center’s six barangays and other densely populated areas such as Lapinigan and Bayugan 2.
Barangay Pisaan Captain Rommel Enguito, who also heads the Liga ng mga Barangay , said that over 100 households initially lacked toilets. “Financial constraints prevented many residents from installing proper facilities, but our intensive ZOD campaign has ensured every household now has sanitary toilets,” he said.
Local officials also credited the active involvement of the Rural Sanitary Office, barangay officials, ZOD workers, Nurses Deployment Program (NDP) nurses, rural health midwives, municipal evaluators, and civic groups in achieving compliance with ZOD standards.
The Rotary Club of San Francisco contributed 80 toilet bowls and installed several in homes lacking facilities through its A Clean Start at Every Home (ACE) program, launched on October 8.
The municipal government said efforts to improve sanitation will continue, as San Francisco aims to attain higher ZOD classifications in the coming years.
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