FEU Wins Two Awards At The 2019 Golden Kubeta Awards

We might not give it much thought, but the importance of decent restrooms is a must to keep our country healthy and clean. For quite some time now, Maynilad has put up the Golden Kubeta Awards to recognize the places and institutions that have made this spaces clean, comfortable, and appealing.

For this year, they have narrowed down the finalists for the best kubeta in the country. Nominees are categorized into sectors representing both public and private institutions. And to get the pulse of the public, they have also opened  online voting to determine the people's choice.

Initial nominations started with nominations using the hashtag #GoldenKubeta , then it led to the shortlist of 41 establishments which moves on to the next round. Then they are subjected to visits to audit and assess each nominee if they are indeed worthy of their slot. They conducted ocular and interviews with the people there about their history and stories.

Further deliberations finally determined the list in each category.  Voting was done from Nov. 12-15 through the Kubeta PH Facebook community page, with all reactions, excluding sad and angry, counting as votes for each nominated establishment. All categories had three finalists each, except for the Government Offices category, where only one nominee made the cut.

Far Eastern University (FEU) emerged as the big winner in this year’s Golden Kubeta Awards (GKA), topping the Schools and Universities category and winning the People’s Choice Award with more than 10,000 social media votes. 

Joining FEU in the winners’ circle are the Parañaque Integrated Terminal Exchange (PITX) in the Terminals and Stations category, National Museum of Natural History in the Government Offices category, and Xentro Mall Polangui in the Malls and Restaurants category.

Xentro Mall’s Antipolo branch was last year’s grand winner, besting 13 other finalists for the coveted Golden Kubeta top plum.

There is no grand winner this year, however – only winners in each of the four different categories. This was the result of a rules change that introduced a physical audit component to the judging. The four winners got the highest final scores, following a rigorous three-step selection process that combined physical audits with social media voting. 

Maynilad’s Golden Kubeta Awards is an awareness and education campaign that seeks to bring the conversation about proper wastewater management to the mainstream. It also envisions clean and comfortable public restrooms in establishments, regardless of type and industry, all over the country. 

It is part of Maynilad’s Kubeta PH campaign, an integrated information, education, and communication campaign that aims to spur positive action from all stakeholders on wastewater management. It is likewise done in conjunction with World Toilet Day, a United Nations observance day that is meant to spread awareness and prompt action on the global sanitation crisis.

“While serving only the West Zone, we believe it is our duty to help the public understand wastewater management better, in the hopes of spurring positive action that will, ultimately, result in the rehabilitation and preservation of our water bodies,” Maynilad President and CEO Ramoncito S. Fernandez said in his speech during the awards ceremony.

“We hope that all of you here today will also be our partners in spreading the gospel of proper wastewater management. Our collective effort in ensuring that wastewater is properly treated before being discharged to different bodies of water will ensure a better future for the next generation,” he further said.