To be conducted by House Committee on Ecology: K-trash probe starts

CEBU, Philippines - The House inquiry into the controversial mixed garbage from South Korea that was shipped to Cebu last January will start today.

The inquiry  will be conducted by the House Committee on Ecology.

Based on the list obtained by The Freeman, the committee invited Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña, Mandaue City Mayor Luigi Quisumbing, former Cebu City Councilor Augustus "Jun" Pe, Cebu City Councilor Joel Garganera, and Barangay Tingub captain, Atty. Randy Pareja to shed light on the issue.

Personnel from the Bureau of Customs-Cebu have also been invited, including former officer-in-charge, Atty. Rico Rey Francis "Koko" Holganza, the deputy collector for operations;  Jessica Delgado of the Entry Processing Unit; Dennis Adisas and Cirila Lumacad of the Assessment Division; and Conrado Abarintos of the Cash Collection Division.

Invitations were also sent to Romer P. Gastador of Alin Customs Brokerage; Denes Negro Camay, president of Moving Forward Global Trading Inc.; Sugar Camay of Robinland Forward Global Trading Inc.; and Israel Alin of Alin Customs Brokerage.

Officials of the Environmental Management Bureau-7 were also invited to shed light in the issue.

It was Deputy Speaker Gwendolyn Garcia, the representative of Cebu’s Third District, who filed House Resolution No. 1155 calling an investigation into the controversy.

"There is a need to conduct an investigation, in aid of legislation, to ferret out the truth about the South Korean garbage, to determine the persons responsible for this illegal exportation, and to inquire into whether our present environmental and customs laws are adequate to safeguard the Philippines from, and our enforcement bodies sufficiently armed in the face of the onslaught of foreign garbage,” Garcia’s resolution reads.

She added that the illegal exportation of trash to the Philippines could not have happened without the connivance of government officials, considering that no one would export trash without the assurance that a dumpsite or landfill would accommodate it, and that it would not be barred from entry by customs and other relevant regulatory agencies.

It can be recalled that the 5,000 gross tonnage or five million kilos of mixed garbage on board MV Christina arrived at Pier 3 in Cebu City on January 20 from Jeju Port in South Korea. The vessel started its voyage on December 30, 2016.

The garbage was unloaded a few days after its arrival and was delivered to the warehouse of the consignee, Moving Forward Global Trading Inc. in Barangay Guizo, Mandaue City and at the open dumpsite in Barangay Tingub, also in Mandaue.

The foul odor and the presence of garbage itself prompted residents in Tingub to report the matter to the authorities.

On February 8, BOC-Cebu district collector Elvira Cruz issued a warrant of seizure and detention for intentional misdeclaration against the shipment which was declared as recycled plastic resin and wood chips.

Based on findings of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources - Environmental Management Bureau-7, the shipment turned out to be mixed waste.

Of the five million kilos of trash, 250,000 kilos was shipped back to South Korea last March while the remaining 250,000 kilos that was stored at the warehouse in Guizo was declared abandoned by BOC-Cebu.

Statement

Osmeña is not attending the inquiry, as he has a court hearing to attend in Bacolod City, but his special assistant, Bimbo Fernandez, will attend on his behalf.

In a statement, Osmeña said Cebu City “has been unfairly and wrongly dragged into the controversy.”

He described as a “blatant lie” the allegation of a certain Felix S. Lopez, Jr. who wrote to President Rodrigo Duterte, saying Osmeña agreed that the garbage be dumped at the landfill in Barangay Inayawan, Cebu City.

It was allegedly Holganza who facilitated the shipment, something that Holganza has since denied.

“Because Cebu City was unfairly and falsely accused, it is only prudent for us to seek the truth of the garbage controversy. Documents about the shipment gathered have contradicted the letter sender’s account,” the city’s statement reads.

These documents include the Port Load Survey Report (PLSR), which was received by the office of District Collector Elvira Cruz on January 19, not during Holganza’s watch; the Single Administrative Documents (SAD) and the Routing Slip, which showed the shipment was processed and released with undue haste of only two days (January 20-21) and still under Cruz’s watch; and the Alert Order issued on February 8, a day after the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) issued a derogatory report about the shipment.

Osmeña also asked that the committee ascertain the identity of Lopez to “ensure we are not taken for a ride by somebody because of amusement or malice.”

Osmeña pointed out that considering the letter was also sent to Presidential Assistant for Visayas Michael Dino, the committee should also ask Dino if his office “conducted due diligence in checking the veracity of the contents starting with the identity of the letter sender before forwarding this to the higher offices concerned.”

“After all, Dino is supposedly the assistant of President Rodrigo Duterte in the Visayas. Is it not his job to conduct due diligence before anything gets forwarded to Malacañang?” Osmeña said. — with Odessa Leyson (BANAT NEWS)