40,000 dead chickens dumped in Pangasinan town; 7 sued

DAGUPAN CITY—Police on Monday sued seven people for dumping at least 40,000 dead chickens in a farming village in Pozorrubio, Pangasinan province, on Sunday.

Chief Insp. Ryan Manongdo, Pozorrubio police chief, said a complaint for violation of Republic Act No. 9003 (Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000) was filed against truck driver Ryan Alexis Cabatbat and his helpers Arnel Ranghos, Jeric Mejia, Abraham Carrera and Marvin Claveria, in the provincial prosecutor’s office in Urdaneta City.

Also charged were Melchor Cabreros, owner of the poultry farm in Villasis town, where the fowls came from, and Restituto Ang, owner of the lot in Barangay Nantangalan in Pozorrubio, where these were dumped.

The chickens, which were transported from Barangay Capulaan in Villasis, died on Thursday after the farm’s ventilation system stopped working.

Pozorrubio Mayor Artemio Chan, in a telephone interview, said he ordered the poultry farm owner to haul the dead chickens back to Villasis. But as of noon on Monday, Domingo Masajo, Nantangalan village chief, said the corpses were still in his village, emitting foul odor that inconvenienced residents.

“The whole village is now affected by the stench of the dead animals. I think the owner is still trying to find a place to dump these,” said Masajo by telephone.

Former Villasis Mayor Nonato Abrenica said Capulaan residents had objected to the burial of the dead fowls in their village, saying it had caused them enough trouble in the past.

Residents had earlier complained that flies had swarmed their village because of the operation of the poultry farm.

“In fact, they only had until Sept. 15 to do something about the flies. And now, this happened. All their chickens died,” Abrenica said.

Masajo said a truck loaded with dead fowls first arrived and dumped its cargo at about 4 a.m. on Sunday. Two hours later, he said, another truck arrived. Masajo said they were only able to stop the third truck, which arrived at 8 a.m.

Chan said the poultry farm owner had promised to remove all the dead chickens from the village on Monday. He said the area should be disinfected once the chickens are removed. Gabriel Cardinoza, Inquirer Northern Luzon