Court asked to stop cemetery project

CITY OF MALOLOS—The vice mayor of San Ildefonso town and an official of its water district have asked a court to stop the construction of a public cemetery in that town, saying the project has not acquired an environmental clearance.

Vice Mayor Rolando Centeno and Crisanto Mananghaya, a member of the San Ildefonso Water District’s board of directors, filed the petition to prevent the construction of the

1-hectare public cemetery in Barangay Makapilapil, which, they said, does not have an environmental compliance certificate (ECC).

Mananghaya, a former councilor, said projects like cemeteries required a clearance from the local water district to ensure these would not affect waterways and pipeline connections.

He said cemeteries also needed to be granted an ECC by the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB).

Mayor Gerald Galvez, who is facilitating the cemetery project, did not issue a statement when sought by the Inquirer for comment.

In their petition, Centeno and Mananghaya also urged the court to issue a permanent injunction against the project for violating Republic Act No. 9184, or the public bidding law. They claimed the project was not approved by the town council.

The council passed a resolution that granted Galvez the authority to enter into a P150-million loan agreement with the Philippine National Bank (PNB) to finance the project. But the petitioners said it was passed without a majority vote. The council voted 5-3 to approve the resolution.

“Clearly, there was no majority vote on the resolution because the [council] has 10 members … hence, the required vote to attain majority was six,” the petitioners said.

They also said details of the project had not undergone mandatory posting in a newspaper of wide circulation, a requirement for infrastructure projects costing more than P5 million.

The complainants also sued the project contractor, Radthien Builders, and PNB president Reynaldo Maclang.

“[The] plaintiffs, as citizens of San Ildefonso, taxpayers and former officials, will be prejudiced if people’s money will be disbursed to fund a patently illegal undertaking. The public interest covering this case mandates that a temporary restraining order/injunction should be issued,” Centeno and Mananghaya said. Carmela Reyes-Estrope, Inquirer Central Luzon