Local execs charged over open dumps
DENR official vows going after violators in government
The Departmen to f Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) on Mond ay f iled complaints before the Office of the Ombudsman agains tt he may oro f Tabaco City, Albay province, and af ormer may or o fl imay town, Bataan province, as well as fou rot her sf or alleged lyv iolating the Ecological Solid Waste Management Ac tof 2000, or Republi cac t No. 9003.
Undersecretar yf or Solid Waste Management and Local Government Unit Concerns Benny Antiporda, who le dt he filing, sa id t hat whi le “the penalty i sl ight ”f or violation of t he S olid Waste Management Act, he expresse dt heh ope that preventive suspension may be applied as penalty to ser ve as a deterren tto future offenders.
“Wha ti s importan ti s that local government unit head sa re aware tha ti f they have a han din destroying our environment, wew ill really go afte rt hem, no matter how heavy or ligh tt he sentence,” Antipord asa idi nan interview afte rt hef iling.
“We will leave it to t he discretion of the Ombudsman, but I thi nk p reventive suspension can be up too ne year,” Antipord asa ido f t hec omplaint ,wh ich came wit hap rayer seeking the suspension of the respondents.
In a f our-page complaint, the National Solid Waste Management Commission (NSWMC) of t he D ENR hel dt hat former Limay Mayor Lilver Roque as well as municipal planning and developmen to fficer Romario Panangui, municipal environment and natural resources officer Randy Cacho and General
Services Office chief engineer Danilo Quinto , we r el iable for two counts o fv iolation of Sectio n37 of the said law.
According to t he D ENR, Roque an dt he othe rr espondents used a transfer statio nas an open dump at Sitio Mamala, Barangay St .F ranci si.
A transfer station i sa temporar ys it ef or wast eun til they are haule d to t he end poin tof disposal.
Roque has n otr esponde dto t he D ENR’S repeate dr equests for an explanation on this.
The respondents also
an open dump at Barangay Alangan.
“The fac tr emains, during his tenure as mayor ,L imay used it spu rporte dtr ansfer statio nas an open dump site ,” the four page complaint read in part.
“Worse, afte rt he closure of the open dump site at Sitio Ma mala, Barangay St. Francis I, Li may, Bataan, the municipality opened anothe rd umpsit e at Barangay Alangan, Limay, Bataan,” t hec omplaint added.
Meanwhile, the complaint against Tabaco City Mayor Cielo Krisel Lagman-luistro and city environment and natural resources officer Reynold Martinez claime dt hat Luistro was a repeat offender and had a pendi ngc omplaint before the Office of the Ombudsman for as imila ro ffense.
“Thi sc omplain ti s executed to show everyone tha tt he NSWMC i sse rious in its role of seeing toitt hat RA 9003 i ss trictly complied with, especially by the local governmen to fficials,” the three-page complaint said.
The DEN R likewise sought the preventive suspension of bot hlu istro and Martinez.
We will leave it to the discretion of the Ombudsman, but I think preventive suspension can [apply] Benny Antiporda Undersecretary for Solid Waste Management and LGU Concerns