The Birth of KILUS Foundation

August of 1997 > then Barangay Chairman Alejandro E. Santiago, a man with a very strong political will encouraged his wife Editha C. Santiago to organize a volunteer group of women mostly housewives called “Samahan ng mga Kababaihan ng Ugong” SKU as partners for the Clean and Green project of the Barangay Council.

November 19, 1998 - the SKU adapt and registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission a new name “KILUS” composed of more than five hundred (500) strong women force.

In every zone, one coordinator and one deputy coordinator is assigned together with ten (10) “Zone” leaders, to monitor and lead in the cleanliness of their respective areas.

This partnership got positive result when at the end of December 1999, Ugong was awarded first place as the Cleanest and Greenest Barangay in Pasig City.

Through the collective efforts of this women organization, Ugong maintained its title as the Cleanest and Greenest barangay in Pasig until at present.

In February 19, 1999, KILUS launched its pet project “BAWAS BASURA DAGDAG KITA” (BBDK). At the end of the year, December 1999, Ugong earned the title of “The Cleanest and Greenest Barangay along Pasig, Marikina and San Juan River” sponsored by the clean and green foundation of Mrs. Ming Ramos. Barangay Ugong was awarded one million pesos (P1, 000,000.00) for this title.

“KILUS” then focus on livelihood projects for its members. The search for livelihood opportunities from garbage started. The Ugong Barangay Council together with KILUS campaigned every purok household to segregate and sell their recyclables to KILUS. UBC, provided for push carts, weighing scale for buying the household scraps and all recyclable items in the community. They helped in the set up of an Ecology Center in the Barangay Hall Compound.

KILUS members shared whatever amount they can afford as starting capital. KILUS buyers wear color-coded uniforms and proper identification card. Color of the uniforms depend on the purok assigned to them with an allowance of Php 75.00 per collector/buyer for Ugong Proper and Php 100.00 for Valle Verde. However, BBDK is limited to a very few members of KILUS and still many more are in need of additional income.

In continuing search for livelihood opportunities, a seminar was held at DAP (Development Academy of the Philippines) at Tagaytay City, the budget taken out of the Php 1M allocation award money by the Clean and Green Foundation. Noted speaker Dr. Meliora of Zero Kalat sa Kaunlaran (ZKK) should useful items and one that attracted our attention is a tiny doy pack bag from discarded zesto juice. Barangay Chairman Santiago pursued for the development of different style of products from doy packs through his livelihood staff. Chairman Andy became the model and promoter of the product wearing and bringing said products to his peers in the environmental circle. This product of Ugong attracted media attention and was featured in newspapers and TV shows. Thus, when buyers kept coming in – the Barangay turnover the technology and commercial scale production to KILUS.

In 2001 KILUS branched into a Multipurpose Environmental Cooperative group duly registered with the Cooperative Development Authority. The much needed big break came when DTI-Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions (CITEM), Special Projects Chief Vivian Castillon exposed the product in the Manila F.A.M.E. International Trade Show. With all these, the doy pack products found a significant foreign market from Japan, USA, Denmark, etc. contributing a little to our economy.

The Profitability of the KILUS doy packs venture for the environment and for the members.

Today, KILUS is a beneficiary of TESDA who lent tools and equipment, a Php 200,000.00 loan granted by Mayor Soledad C. Eusebio’s Cooperative Assistance Project, Pasig City and another Php 200,000.00 loan from Senator Rodolfo Biazon. These loans were used to purchase additional high speed sewing machine and 80 families being helped by the production of doy packs. It has become sort of an extended family enterprise. The members has its own assignment: the pulot brigade which circles around Pasig City and other cities in Metro Manila buying the doy packs from funeral homes, cemeteries, schools, residential houses, wakes, dumpsites and whoever calls up with their doy packs. The linis brigade are those who wash and sanitized the doy packs in 3 stages and dry them. The mananahi or sewers brigade are those who earned the most from Php 2,000.00 to Php 3,000.00 a week. With school days around, the financial burden of their children are solved.

With more than a million pieces of discarded doy packs bought and still needed to transform them into bags we save mother earth from these wastes going to our drainage systems dumpsites and water bodies.

Do your part, collect them and sell them to us, the KILUS Multipurpose Environmental Cooperative at 36 C. Santos St., Ugong, Pasig City.