NOTICE TO THE PUBLIC The notices posted on Oct. 29 by CDC and the BCDA along the road leading to Kalangitan Sanitary Landfill in Capas, Tarlac, inform the public that MCWMC is no longer authorized to operate the dump. —CDC photo
CAPAS, TARLAC, Philippines — A regional trial court (RTC) in Capas has issued a 20-day temporary restraining order (TRO) against Clark Development Corp. (CDC), barring it from interfering with the operations of Metro Clark Waste Management Corp. (MCWMC) at Kalangitan Sanitary Landfill here.
In a resolution dated Nov. 28, Judge Sarah Vedaña-Delos Santos of RTC Branch 109 directed CDC officials, including its president and chief executive officer Agnes Devanadera, to refrain from disrupting MCWMC’s business activities or to discourage the landfill’s clients—comprising over a hundred local government units and private companies—from engaging the landfill operator’s services.
READ: Clark body asserts Tarlac landfill closure despite court injunction
P1-million bond
According to the court, the TRO was granted after the filing of a P1-million bond by MCWMC, as it noted that CDC had taken actions, such as posting public notices and sending out letters to discourage transactions with the landfill operator.
MCWMC filed a civil case on Nov. 19 after alleging CDC’s interference in its operations.
The large notices placed by CDC on the roadside leading to the landfill site informed the public that MCWMC no longer has authority from CDC to operate the facility.
The landfill operator has also earlier gone to court to stop its closure and, on Oct. 29, secured a ruling from another Capas RTC, Branch 66 presided by Judge Ronald Leo Haban, that barred CDC and the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) from forcibly evicting MCWMC from the 100-hectare landfill site in the Clark Special Economic Zone.
CDC, however, maintained that Haban’s order only stopped CDC and BCDA from forcibly taking over the landfill but did not say that MCWMC was authorized to stay open for business.
Disputes over extension
This prompted MCWMC to file the Nov. 19 case in the Capas RTC, which was raffled off to Branch 109 on Nov. 21, which subsequently issued the 20-day TRO.
The landfill operator’s 25-year contract with CDC signed in 1999, expired on Oct. 6, but legal disputes over its extension remain unresolved.
BCDA president Joshua Bingcang has urged MCWMC to vacate the property, citing plans to develop the area located within New Clark City.
“At the expiration of the contract for service, MCWMC should promptly vacate and deliver the property, inclusive of all new constructions and improvements introduced during the term of the contract, to the Clark Development Corporation,” Bingcang said in a letter to CDC in April.
Maintain status quo
Bingcang said the BCDA “is keen on the development and increase of the economic value of the 100-hectare land area currently covered by a contract for service with Metro Clark Waste Management Corporation located in New Clark City.”
But Vedaña-Delos Santos cited the need to maintain the status quo, stating that further interference could cause “grave and irreparable damage” to MCWMC and its clients, which service the waste disposal needs of millions of people.
A hearing on MCWMC’s application for a writ of preliminary injunction is still pending.
The Inquirer tried to reach the CDC for comment on Tuesday but received no response.