Proper waste disposal: Legarda: Sue defiant LGUs

Senator Loren Legarda wants the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and concerned individuals to file complaints against the heads of any local government units who are not compliant with the law on proper garbage disposal.

The former TV broadcaster, author of Republic Act 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act that requires wastes segregation and proper disposal, said that DENR officials and private individuals should initiate the filing of charges against the violators.

Section 52 of R.A. 9003 provides that any citizen may file an appropriate civil, criminal or administrative action before the proper courts or bodies against any persons or department who violates or fails to comply with the provisions of the law.

The law also exempts private complainants from paying the filing fees.

The law further provides that segregation of wastes shall be done right at its source, meaning at the respective households, commercial and other kinds of establishments.

It requires that a separate container for each type of wastes, biodegradable, non-biodegradable and recyclable, shall be maintained from the source.Legarda was prompted to ask the DENR and the private individuals to take action upon learning that several local government units all over the country are not complying with the provisions of the law.

In Cebu City, then mayor and now South District Rep. Tomas R. Osmeña earlier ordered a strict implementation of the law in 1994, but still most of the barangay officials failed to comply with it.Garbage personnel even threatened not to collect unsegregated garbage from the source but still the people remain adamant.

The City Hall even filed a complaint before the Cebu City prosecutor’s office against then Apas barangay captain Clemente Rosales and two of his relatives for failure to implement the law in his territorial jurisdiction.

The eight-year old law carries the fines and penalties ranging from P300 to P500,000 depending on the gravity of the violation. Some of the prohibited acts under the law are the throwing and dumping of waste materials in public places, such as on roads, sidewalks, canals, parks, and the open burning of solid wastes. Government officials can be slapped with fines if they allow squatters to stay in open dumpsites and landfills, allow the dumping or burying of biodegradable or non-biodegradable materials in flood-prone areas.

Allowing the operation of open dumpsites is also not allowed and the mixing of source-separated recyclable materials with other solid wastes in the garbage trucks.

Aside from the huge fines, violators could also be slapped with additional penalty of imprisonment for a maximum of three years depending on the court’s discretion.

Legarda asks the DENR officials to monitor the LGUs compliance of the law saying that it is not the senators’ job to implement it. Mayor Michael Rama, in an earlier interview with The Freeman, said he will ask the chairman of the committee on environment of the Cebu City Council to formulate effective plans on how to seriously implement the law.

The city’s garbage personnel are still collecting unsegregated wastes that are dumped on the streets, which is contrary to the provision of the law. Everyday, about 450 tons of garbage are being hauled to the sanitary landfill in Barangay Inayawan. —/FPL   (FREEMAN NEWS)