ILOILO CITY, Philippines – The Office of the Environmental Ombudsman charged local government officials of the towns of Banate and Ajuy in the province of Iloilo over violations of the Solid Waste Management Act for operating open dumpsites in their respective municipalities.
According to Atty. Dennis Ventilacion, the provincial legal officer, the charges were filed following an inspection conducted by the National Solid Waste Management Commission and the Environmental Ombudsman last year to non-compliant municipalities.
“May mga bayan na tayong na-file ang kaso sa Ombudsman mula sa mayor hanggang sa konsehal at mga opisyal. Kinasuhan sila dahil hindi nakacomply sa requirements ng batas,” said Ventilacion in local dialect.
(We have filed cases at the Ombudsman against officials in several towns; from the mayor down to their councilors. Cases were filed against them because they failed to comply with the law.)
The involved LGUs were already issued with the notice of violation by the Environment and Management Bureau (EMB) and they were given six months to submit their respective plans of action for the disposal areas.
However, Senior Environmental Management Specialist Mitzi Peñaflorida said, only three from five municipalities issued with the notice of violation complied by the deadline while the two other municipalities continued with their disposal operations.
EMB is now coordinating with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) as to the clustering of municipalities to where a sanitary landfill will be established while the agency is fast-tracking the closure of the open dumpsites in Iloilo.
Ventilacion warned the involved parties to comply with the requirements of the EMB to avoid more serious penalties.
Meanwhile, the provincial government promised to allot funds for the establishment of sanitary landfills compliant to environmental standards in clustered areas in the province. – Lalaine Moreno / Marje Pelayo
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