City to abide by SC ruling on landfill

The Cebu City government will abide by the decision of the Supreme Court that permanently banned the operation of the Inayawan Sanitary Landfill.

Mayor Tomas Osmeña said he will follow the law after the city’s petition for review challenging the closure order from the Court of Appeals was denied by the high tribunal.

“I will follow the law. I will do what’s in the best interest of the city,” Osmeña said.

The mayor said the city government has been pushing for the rehabilitation of the landfill. In fact, it has hired experts from Full Advantage Philippines International Inc. and Mott MacDonald Consultancy firm to study the current situation of the landfill and come up with a comprehensive closure and rehabilitation plan.

Since April 16, 2018, at least 10 experts from Full Advantage started gathering data about the landfill. Their study will last for three months. Based on the contract, the service provider will analyze the waste depth, volume and extent of area covered, on-site waste characteristics, leachate generation and quality, groundwater and surface water quality, social aspect (wastepickers or informal sectors), gas emissions, and air quality, among others.

Mott MacDonald also conducted a separate study. It was funded P40 million by the Asian Development Bank.

“Asian Development Bank spends P40 million for their experts to evaluate our situation. So, will just see what would be there decision,” Osmeña said.

The mayor said he will leave it up to the City Legal Office to determine whether or not a motion for reconsideration is necessary. The ongoing study, however, will not be affected by the Supreme Court decision because the closure and rehabilitation plan is among the commitments of the city government to the court after a Writ of Kalikasan was issued.

Councilor Joel Garganera, who filed the petition for Writ of Kalikasan, said the SC decision proves that no one is above the law.

“No one is above the law and the environment is ought to be protected for the benefit of the future generations to come,” he said.

He said the petition for review filed by Osmeña before the SC shows that the present administration has a plan to still use the landfill despite its violation of the environmental laws and non-compliance of the sanitary requirements.

“Seventeen months na ang nilabay but there’s no concrete or substantial effort on the part of the city government to comply with the decision of the Court of Appeals. In fact, in their petition before the SC, they said that the CA committed an error in closing the landfill,” Garganera said.

On December 15, 2016, the appellate court shut down the controversial landfill because of several violations.

Garganera was thankful to his legal counsel, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, former secretary Gina Lopez, and all those who supported him in his petition for Writ of Kalikasan against the city government.