Baguio execs see new garbage crisis with writ of ‘kalikasan’
BAGUIO CITY—Mayor Mauricio Domogan ordered the local environment office last week to stop using the decommissioned dump in Barangay (village) Irisan as a holding area for the city’s trash because the Supreme Court had released a temporary environmental protection order (TEPO).
The court, sitting en banc on January 17, deliberated on a 2011 petition for a writ of ‘kalikasan’ that was filed against the city government due to an August 27 trash slide that claimed six lives and polluted the groundwater supplying the towns of Tuba in Benguet and Aringay in La Union.
A section of Baguio’s 38-year-old decommissioned dump in Irisan toppled over a hillside neighborhood along Asin Road, when runoff water from rains dumped by Typhoon “Mina” burst through its reinforcement wall. Asin Road straddles the city and Tuba, whose water flows toward Aringay.
The en banc notice orders the city government “to cease and desist from making use of the Irisan dump … either as a temporary holding area or as a dumping or controlled area for any and all kinds of solid waste.”
The writ is a legal remedy provided by the Supreme Court to ensure that a citizen’s right to a clean and healthy environment is protected.
Hearing
The court also gave the city government and the complainants, represented by Benguet Representative Ronald Cosalan, National Artist for Visual Arts Benedicto Cabrera and Aringay Vice Mayor Eric Sibuma, 10 days to comment on the petition.
It said the complaint would be referred to the Court of Appeals “for hearing, reception of evidence and rendition of judgment.”
City officials said the TEPO could trigger a new garbage crisis because it prevents them from using the Irisan dump as a temporary sorting area for garbage collected every day.
Biodegrable waste is sent to two environmental recycling system (ERS) machines, which convert organic wastes into fertilizer. The ERS machines, which process 48 tons of wastes each day, are stored inside a gated section of the dump.
Tons of discarded plastic, meanwhile, are hauled out to a facility by the ERS supplier, ProTech Machineries Corp.
Cordelia Lacsamana, city environment officer, said officials have been discussing ways to solve the problem, such as securing a new sorting area for the 284 tons of wastes generated by the city’s households and business establishments every day.
She said the dump has not been used as an open landfill since July 2008 when Irisan and Tuba residents forced its closure due to fears that it had exceeded its capacity.
Lacsamana said the government undertook a 10-year decommissioning program that would lead to the dump’s conversion into a park.
She said village leaders would be briefed about the TEPO to prepare residents about the latest problem that would impact on the city’s garbage collection.
Best option
“The best option is to minimize the garbage that needs to be collected from the source (households),” she said. “[But] we can’t compel people to stop generating wastes.”
Advised about the consequence of the TEPO, Cosalan said: “I am confident the city [government] already has alternative plans. They just have to get their acts together.”
The Tuba government did not take part in the writ of kalikasan petition because its officials have taken on good faith Baguio’s rehabilitation plans for the Irisan dump, said Tuba Mayor Florencio Bentrez.
But a government promise to finance the restoration of the dump’s retaining wall has yet to be fulfilled because funds have not yet been allocated, Baguio Rep. Bernardo Vergara said.—Vincent Cabreza
