Audit of LGU compliance with environmental laws sought

Sen. Loren Legarda, chairperson of the Senate committee on climate change INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

CLARK FREEPORT—The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) will start an audit of local governments to monitor their compliance with various environmental laws, especially on waste management.

Interior Undersecretary Austere Panadero said the agency would heed the recommendation of Senator Loren Legarda for an environmental audit.

Legarda, chairperson of the Senate committee on climate change, made the proposal after she answered a question on the sanctions that should be given to local officials who fail to enforce the segregation of solid wastes.

The media briefing that Legarda attended was held for a forum that the DILG organized to prepare local governments in mobilizing communities in dealing with the impact of climate change and to reduce risks from disasters.

Legarda said local officials who do not comply with the provisions of the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act (Republic Act No. 9003) are liable for administrative and criminal charges.

She suggested to Panadero that the DILG monitor how local governments were complying with the law. The compliance rate, according to her, was only about 20 percent.

The audit, she said, should cover the governors of

80 provinces and mayors of 138 cities and 1,496 towns.

“What right do they have to be voted when they cannot protect the environment?” Legarda said. Tonette Orejas, Inquirer Central Luzon