Bataan landfill operator cited for environment, tax offenses

HERMOSA, BATAAN—The local government on Tuesday issued notices of violations to a company operating a sanitary landfill here for environmental offenses and nonpayment of municipal tax.

Hermosa Mayor Jopet Inton said the Econest Waste Management Corp. had violated the “no segregation, no collection” policy under the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000 (Republic Act No. 9003).

“Econest even accepts garbage from Quezon City when under our agreement only garbage from Hermosa [town] and Bataan [province] should be accepted in its landfill,” Inton told the Inquirer. He said Econest also violated a contract with the local government when it failed to share a portion of its income from the landfill operation with Hermosa. The company, the mayor said, would not even allow municipal employees to inspect its facility located in Barangay Mambog here.

An Econest officer said the company would review the notices issued against it and would seek help from environmental experts to determine if it committed the violations. Econet was established on July 6, 2017, under a public-private partnership arrangement with the Hermosa government.

Inton said under the arrangement, the Hermosa government would dump its garbage at the landfill free of charge. “But lately we were being charged already,” he said.—GREG REFRACCION INQ