Charges await poultry owner for ‘disposing’ chicken entrails into Inayawan

CEBU, Philippines —  The Cebu City Environment and Natural Resources Office (CCENRO) is set to file charges against a poultry farm owner for illegal disposal of innards and use of a government vehicle.

Lawyer Junine Aragones, CCENRO chief, said the poultry farm, which is allegedly owned by a public official, has violated Republic Act (RA) 9003 or The Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000.

“We will file charges kay strikto na ta karon sa mga environmental laws, even sa panigarilyo, paglabay og basura. How much more sa mga ing-ana na basura,” he said.

CCENRO is now coordinating with the City Legal Office for the filing of environmental charges, among others.

The move of CCENCO came after former Apas barangay captain Ramil Ayuman posted videos about the incident on his Facebook account yesterday. One of the videos garnered around 2,000 views, 80 reactions, 75 shares and 42 comments as of 6 p.m. yesterday.

The internal organs of poultry were thrown into the garbage truck assigned to haul trash from the mountain barangay of Paril, said Ayuman.

The truckload of chickens’ internal organs were brought to the city’s transfer station in Barangay Inayawan.

Ayuman said the innards might have come from Compostela town in northern Cebu, where the official’s farm is reportedly located.

In the video, Jordan Simboot, a worker of RMI INC., owner of the waste transfer station in Inayawan, said the disposal of internal organs, including intestines, has been going on for several months now.

He said the truck would usually transport the wastes at dawn.

He added the rotting innards are already causing a foul smell.

Aragones said internal organs of animals are specials wastes and cannot be thrown into any landfill.

“That is illegal,” he said, adding that his office is currently investigating the incident.

He said more charges will be filed against the farm owner, saying the use of garbage truck for disposal of farm wastes is already a violation.

The CCENRO chief said the poultry farm owner should have hired a private hauler to properly dispose the innards into a waste treatment facility.

Aragones said the rotting wastes may pose health and environmental risks.

“It may cause infections, affecting the nearby settlements,” he said.  KQD (FREEMAN)