Closure of Tarlac landfill halted for 72 hours

PROTECTIVE COVERING Personnel of the Metro Clark Waste Management Corp. (MCWMC) roll out protective covering on the Kalangitan Sanitary Landfill’s expanded disposal area in Capas, Tarlac, in this photo taken in January 2024, months before it is ordered closed by the Clark Development Corp. upon the expiration of its service contract on Oct. 6. MCWMC averts closure on Sunday after getting a 72-hour reprieve from a Tarlac court. —MCWMC

MABALACAT CITY, PAMPANGA, Philippines — The scheduled closure on Sunday of the 100-hectare Kalangitan Sanitary Landfill inside the New Clark City in Capas, Tarlac, was postponed after its operator was able to secure a 72-hour temporary restraining order (TRO) against the Clark Development Corp. (CDC).

The CDC on Sunday affirmed receiving on Saturday night the TRO issued by the Capas Regional Trial Court Branch 66 in favor of the landfill operator, the German-led Metro Clark Waste Management Corp. (MCWMC).

READ: Closure of Tarlac landfill nears as contract ends

In a statement on Sunday, the CDC, which is a subsidiary of the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA), said it “adheres to the rule of law and will fully comply with the TRO.”

The CDC added it would also refrain from commenting on the sanitary landfill’s closure as well as on the statements issued by MCWMC, as court proceedings related to their legal dispute were still ongoing.

Legal issues

MCWMC has been fighting the closure of the Kalangitan Sanitary Landfill, a modern facility that services most of the more than a thousand foreign and local business locators at the Clark Freeport and Special Economic Zone, but also the some 100 local governments in central and northern Luzon, including Baguio City.

The landfill operator earlier filed a P101-million civil suit against CDC and BCDA, while seeking to amend their Oct. 6, 1999, service contract with CDC by extending its right to operate the facility for another 25 years.

In turn, the CDC filed a P45-million counterclaim for damages against MCWMC.

In its statement on Sunday, the CDC cited the April 30 letter of BCDA president and CEO Joshua Bingcang stressing the need for the landfill operator to vacate the 100-ha area upon the expiration of its service contract with the state-run corporation.

According to Bingcang, the BCDA “is keen on the development and increase of the economic value” of the land within New Clark City now being used as a landfill.

In a statement last June, the BCDA, citing the opinion of the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel, said that “extending the contract between CDC and MCWMC beyond October 2024 would be against the Build-Operate-Transfer Law, the framework used in bidding and awarding the contract for the project.”

“Moreover, the BCDA maintains that a sanitary landfill is no longer consistent with the government’s vision of transforming New Clark City into a premier investment and tourism destination,” the statement said.