Close illegal dumps, Albay LGUs told

LEGAZPI CITY, Philippines – Local government officials in five towns and a city in Albay have been ordered to close their illegal dumps.

Concerned local government executives face administrative and criminal complaints if the open dumps are not closed within 15 days, Environmental Ombudsman for Luzon Gerard Mosquera said during his visit to the province on Wednesday.

Mosquera said officials in the towns of Daraga, Camalig, Guinobatan, Polangui, Tiwi and Ligao City had not implemented Republic Act 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act in the past 15 years.

An environmental ombudsman team conducted hearings in the areas on Oct. 10 to 12 as part of its fact-finding investigation.

“Environmental protection laws must be complied with because we only have one planet,” Mosquera, also the deputy ombudsman for Luzon, told a press briefing.

The law states that no open dump shall be put up and operated, and the disposal of solid waste by any person, including local government units, is prohibited.

The Environment Management Bureau was tasked to monitor closure and post-closure activities.

Early this year, the mayors, vice mayors and Sangguniang Bayan members of Albay as well as Isabela, Nueva Vizcaya, Bataan, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, Bulacan, Cavite, Rizal, Quezon, Oriental Mindoro, Northern Samar, Leyte and Palawan were ordered  to answer the complaint for alleged violation of RA 9003 filed against them by the National Solid Waste Management Commission.

Local officials were given a non-extendible period of 60 days to submit their explanation. They were also asked to come up with a safe closure and rehabilitation plan, which should include a proposal to immediately close open dumps.

In May, the ombudsman environmental team closed the open dumps in Hindang and Bato towns in Leyte and Catarman in Northern Samar.