Parañaque mayor blames predecessors for garbage woes

Parañaque City Mayor Florencio Bernabe pointed to his predecessors as the reason for the city’s garbage problems and questioned the Philippine Bar Association’s (PBA) move to hold him responsible for violating certain provisions of the Solid Waste Management Act.

Bernabe said the charges were filed without considering the fact that he had barely warmed his seat as local chief executive. He said the PBA should give him more time to address the city’s problems on garbage collection, segregation and dumping.

"The 30-day period that the PBA gave Parañaque to implement corrective measures against what it tagged as a clear violation of certain provisions of Republic Act 9003 or the Solid Waste Management Act is too short and therefore unrealistic," he said.

Bernabe issued the statement after receiving information that the lawyers’ group has filed a case against his city before the Office of the Environmental Ombudsman (OEO).

The same charges were hurled against San Juan and Malabon after the one-month deadline to comply with the law, which the PBA gave the cities, expired.

The complaint cited violations of the Solid Waste Management Act’s provisions on mandatory segregation of solid waste, segregated collection of waste, conversion of open dumpsites to controlled dumpsites, and establishment of Materials Receiving Facilities (MRFs) in each barangay.

Bernabe disclosed that only four of Parañaque’s 16 barangays, based on an inspection report issued two months ago, are practicing waste segregation.

The report also showed that only seven MRFs are operating in seven barangays while solid waste is temporarily brought to a transfer station were recyclable materials are segregated prior to disposal at a controlled dumpsite in San Pedro, Laguna.

The transfer station, however, is being operated by a private garbage collection contractor which has not secured an Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) up to now.

Bernabe explained that given the magnitude of Parañaque’s garbage problems, which he merely inherited from previous administrations, the 30-day comply-or-be-charged deadline issued by the PBA was quite inconsiderate.

He said one of his first official acts when he assumed office in July last year was to order a city-wide clean-up, especially along major roads and thoroughfares.

His efforts, he stressed, dramatically transformed the city into a cleaner community as he continues to find ways to further improve garbage collection and disposal.

Bernabe said he formed the Parañaque Solid Waste Management Board last month and expects the city to fully comply with the Solid Waste Management Act earlier than he had projected.

He said the city doesn’t even have its own dumpsite but he gave assurances that he will work on each problem, hoping that the PBA would look into it before it acts or files charges.