SEC suspends waste firm’s papers

CEBU, Philippines — The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has suspended the primary registration of Davao City Environmental Care, Inc. (DCECI), the company that collected wastes from medical facilities in Cebu.

SEC said DCECI failed to comply with reportorial requirements for five consecutive years.

Atty. Lorna Fick-Cubero, officer-in-charge of SEC-Cebu, told The FREEMAN that DCECI failed to submit its General Information Sheet since its registration on March 9, 2012, as reflected in the SEC database.

DCECI’s principal address is at Matina Highway corner Union Avenue, Davao City.

The company collected medical wastes from Chong Hua Hospital Mandaue and Cancer Center (CHHMCC), University of Cebu Medical Center, as well as other private hospitals, since 2016.

It services also include recycling, treat hazardous waste such as hospital waste clinics, funeral parlors, provide waste treatment, waste water facilities and to treat chemical residue for contaminated water.

The Corporation Code mandates the filing of reports involving the election of directors, trustees, and officers within 30 days from the date of the annual stockholders' meeting as reflected in the GIS.

A company s also required to submit an annual report of its corporation together with a financial statement of its assets and liabilities.

Cubero said that in the past, SEC would easily revoke the franchise or certificate of registration of a company that is delinquent in filing the required reports, but the commission decided to be more considerate in recent years by issuing a suspension order first.

This would give companies the chance to update their reports and settle their corresponding penalties.

SEC’s order of suspension, together with the list of delinquent corporations, shall be published in a newspaper of general circulation.

If a delinquent company still fails to comply with the reportorial requirements after 30 days since the order was published, SEC shall enter a suspended status in its records.

"One of the requirements for filing petition to set aside the order of suspension is proofs of operation for each year, starting from the date of revocation or ate of incorporation (for a suspension order) up to the time of the filing of the petition," Cubero explained.

The authorized capital stock is P5 million divided into P50,000 shares with a par value of P100 per share.

Controversy

DCECI’s name came into the limelight when it was ordered by Mandaue City to clean the wastes it allegedly dumped at a vacant lot near its facility in Sitio Tambis in Barangay Umpad along the Butuanon River.

The company has denied owning the medical wastes dumped there and said it may have been from a group of scavengers.

“First and foremost, we do not unload the contracted wastes from the hospitals outside of our plant. We only transport store and dispose of the contracted hospital wastes inside our plant where it will undergo proper treatment,” reads DCECI's letter to the Office of the Mayor, Mandaue City, and Environment and Natural Resources Office.

“The wastes that your personnel found on the vacant lot during their inspection belong to a group of scavengers who clean and dry the recyclables and reusables they gather from their sources on this vacant lot along the Butuanon River,” its letter reads. (FREEMAN)