Gacasan, R. P. (2013). Sustainable sanitation strategies towards an open-defecation free community: The Baliangao experience (Unpublished master's thesis). Graduate School of Public and Development Management, Development Academy of the Philippines.

Graduate School of Public and Development Management Health Systems and Development Batch 3 Thesis (MPM-HSD)--Development Academy of the Philippines.

This paper produced sanitation strategies that are sustainable and affordable, and can be used to attain an open-defecation free community. This project paper was limited to sustainable sanitation strategies on the context of an open defecation free community. It was centered on community social mobilization, interpersonal communication and community-led total sanitation (CLTS) as a tool for program formulation and implementation. It was bounded by the two barangays of the municipality of Baliangao, Misamis Occidental. The first step employed was the collection of the data and documents needed to review the local sanitation of Baliangao. Focus group discussion was done to create a Zero Open Defecation Plan Local Action Committee, and to define the need, formulate the goal, develop policies, and ZOD programs, and identify success parameters. In the two pilot barangays, Mabini and Punta Sulong, a ZODP Local Action Committee was created and a zero Open Defecation Plan was formulated. They adopted the ZOD programs implemented by the SuSEA which include Community-Led Total Sanitation, Capacity Building and Sanitation Marketing. The actual implementation of the ZOD program included the community as the core actors using participatory approach, and Focus group discussion. The CLTS strategy was effective in increasing the number of households with access to toilet facility. In barangay Mabini, percentage of households with access to sanitary toilet increased from 57.6% to 66.8%. The remaining 42.3% households without access to sanitary toilet facility decreased to 9.2% and 23.9% households were ongoing construction. In barangay Punta Sulong, percentage of households with access to sanitary toilet increased from 58.1% to 84.4%. The remaining 58.1% households without access to sanitary toilet facility decreased from 41.9% to 1%, and 14.5% of the households were ongoing construction. The community was empowered and was able to improvise an ECOSAN toilet with the author's assistance. Improvement in a certain area would really take a lot of time. Implementation of a project for a change would involve the cooperation of the entire community. Despite the challenges encountered during the course of the study, it has been observed that there is an increasing trend of the number of households with toilets which reflects the influence of the study towards the community. Since this project is a work in progress, the ZODP Local Action Committee must exert much effort not just in monitoring toilet construction but most especially in ending open defecation.