Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) — The Office of the Ombudsman is set to investigate close to 600 local government officials for allowing open dump sites in their respective jurisdictions.
The National Solid Waste Management Commission led by Commissioner Romeo Hidalgo filed on Wednesday (February 10) a complaint against mayors, vice mayors, and councilors who supposedly failed to shut down open dump sites.
This is the first time the agency has filed such a case.
Included in the complaint are Silang, General Trias and Kawit in Cavite; Lucena,Quezon; Taytay, Rizal; Bogo, Cebu; and Iligan City, Isabela.
Hidalgo said local government officials are responsible for carrying out policies under the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act, since they have control over funds for garbage disposal.
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“Ang daming batas na magaganda pero walang nangyayare…Ito na ang pagkakataon! Kung gusto niyong magkaroon ng pagbabago, at kung gusto niyo yung sinasabing tuwid na daan, ito ang pagkakataon para gawin natin sa tulong ng ating Ombudsman.”
[Translation: “There are a lot of good laws, but nothing is happening… Now is the time! If you want change, and if you want the so-called righteous path, this is the time for us to do so through the help of the Ombudsman.”]
Environmental hazard
The Ecological Solid Waste Management Act (R.A. 9003) requires the replacement of open dumpsites with sanitary landfills and material recovery or recycling facilities.
Open dumpsites are hazardous to the environment — toxins may leak to the soil, and disease carrying organisms could breed there. On the other hand, a sanitary landfill and a material recovery facility allow for proper segregation and recycling of waste.
Sen. Loren Legarda renewed her call to local government units to strictly comply with the solid waste management law. Legarda is principal author and sponsor of the fifteen-year-old measure.
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“It is always good to have like minded individuals in government to be able to implement laws. Because its not enough that a law is passed, after several years and more than a decade it is not being implemented as effectively as it should.”
The Ombudsman said those facing a complaint will have the chance to carry out a corrective action plan within the year before the office issues a recommendation.
Fund limits
Department of Environment and National Resources (DENR) Undersecretary Jonas Leones said that local government units (LGUs) do not necessarily prioritize waste management because of budget constraints.
“Walang karagdagang pondo na nabibigay sa LGUs at kinukuha lang nila sa kanila. So ang nangyayare, sa dami ng priority ng LGU, medyo nasasantabi po ang ating solid waste management.”
[Translation: “LGUs don’t get additional funding and they only get what is allocated to them. So what happens here is that they have too many priorities, that solid waste management gets sidelined a bit.”]
According to the DENR, it was only this year that the agency received a P500 million allocation for solid waste management capacity building.
Leones explained that Congress denied DENR’s solid waste management budget requests in the past, because the task is technically not under the department’s mandate.
