Dunang Manggad is the Ilonggo term for natural resources. The story of the Dunang Manggad Center of Buenavista Guimaras is the story of a Local Government Unit, strapped for resources, with little to spare for a vanguard project.  Solid waste management (SWM) is a relatively a new frontier for LGUs which are neither financially nor technically prepared to perform the mandate of the law. But the leadership of Buenavista has found the will to carve a path to a desired end. The planned site for the Dunang Manggad Center had been cleared of the mounds of garbage. A site plan was developed and with little budget, the setting up of the facilities was started in July 2005. The Provincial government donated the amount of P100,000.00 to mobilize the conduct of waste management activities. Construction materials were retrieved from the torn-down municipal structures; wood and bamboo from the exhibition booths dismantled from the last town fiesta. Salaries for labor during the construction were sourced from the budget of the Municipal Agriculture Office (MAO) which promotes composting as an important approach to farming. A supplemental budget of P100,000.00 was enacted for the procurement of equipment such as a shredder and a vibrating screen. The GTZ-AHT Solid Waste Management for LGUs provided technical and financial assistance to the municipality.

The Dunang Manggad Center has been launched in November 2005. It is managed by a designated Municipal Solid Waste Management Coordinator who had been assigned as an agricultural extension officer under the supervision of the Municipal Agriculture Officer (MAO). Constraints relating to budget and limitations on the LGU organizational structure are common hindrances experienced by LGUs in the Philippines. In Buenavista, waste management and agriculture are closely allied endeavors.

The Dunang Manggad Center serves as the demonstration site for the production of compost from bio-degradable wastes collected from the public markets and from the households in 6 urban barangays of the municipality. Lectures and orientations on solid waste management and on composting process and techniques are held regularly at the Center.

Since the start of its operations in November 2005, the Dunang Manggad Center has produced 3T of vermi-compost and 7.5 tons of fresh compost. The soil conditioners are being utilized by the MAO in trial fields of rice, fruit trees, and vegetables, in the municipal nurseries and demonstration vegetable gardens.