MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has maintained that it is prioritizing issues on air pollution and solid waste in response to President Duterte’s pro-environment and pro-people agenda.
DENR Undersecretary Jonas Leones said Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu plans to craft more concrete measures to address the two major environmental issues in the country.
The department has finished installing several air quality monitoring stations for measuring air pollutants nationwide.
“The DENR’s Environmental Management Bureau is now equipped with air monitoring equipment and a laboratory capable of detecting and analyzing toxic gas emissions, such as dioxins and furans,” Leones said.
Dioxins and furans are environmental pollutants that have highly toxic potential, byproducts of industrial processes and are often sourced from solid and hospital wastes.
Leones said the DENR continues to implement its waste-to-energy policy after the National Solid Waste Management Commission issued the guidelines governing the establishment and operation of WTE technologies for municipal solid wastes.
The guidelines stipulate compliance with the Environmental Impact Statement System Law, Philippine Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, Toxic Substances and Hazardous and Nuclear Wastes Act and the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act.
“Given the provisions of these laws, we can expect that all bases are covered in terms of solid waste management,” Leones said.
The DENR is also undertaking a technical cooperation project with Japan on the use of advanced WTE technologies to enable the country to comply with global emissions standards for pilot-testing in Quezon City, Cebu and Davao.
Furthermore, Leones said the department is going after local government units (LGUs) that fail to enforce the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act.
The law mandates LGUs to adopt a systematic, comprehensive and ecological solid waste management program that will ensure the protection of public health and environment. – With Rhodina Villanueva