Court of appeals asked: Close ‘landfills’ in Aloguinsan

CEBU, Philippines — A resident of Aloguinsan is asking the Court of Appeals to stop the establishment of dumpsites in the town that allegedly masquerade as sanitary landfills.

Sonny Cirunay filed a petition for a Writ of Kalikasan with prayer for the issuance of a Temporary Environmental Protection Order (TEPO) in which he sued Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu, Environmental Management Bureau-7 Director William Cuñado, Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia, the Cebu Provincial Board, and Aloguinsan Mayor Augustus Caesar Moreno.

He also sued San Rafael Landfill Corporation, the operator of the dumpsites, as well as the councils of Barangays Punay, Tampaan, and Angilan for issuing permits and for not objecting to the establishment of the dumpsites.

Cirunay described the facilities as "pseudo sanitary landfill but actually a dumpsite."

He asked that the Court of Appeals enjoin the respondents from accepting further toxic mixed and unsegregated wastes from other local government units, especially from Cebu City.

Cirunay alleged that the dumpsite being constructed in Angilan and the existing large-scale dumpsites that are “almost full to the brim” in Punay and Tampaan will destroy and have already destroyed the environment, causing persistent infestation of flies, water, air and soil pollution, and unbearable foul odor.

He added that the continued dumping of mixed wastes, mostly coming from Cebu City and other local government units, to these dumpsites has threatened and violated the constitutional rights of the petitioner and many other similarly situated, and that of the present and future generations to a balanced and healthful ecology.

“In other words, these three named sites are plain and simple illegal dumpsites and not sanitary landfills as respondents are invoking it to be and involving solely on large scale dumping of unprocessed and unsegregated or mixed wastes and/or garbage,” Cirunay’s petition reads.

San Rafael Landfill Corporation allegedly continues to violate the cease and desist order the Environmental Management Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources-7 issued on January 20, 2017.

The order was reportedly addressed to Rafael Moreno, the owner of the landfill in Barangay Punay the mayor’s son.

The EMB issued the order after finding out during investigation that garbage was dumped at the facility despite the absence of an Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) and a discharge permit for their waste water generation.

The probe stemmed from the complaints the EMB received regarding the foul odor that emanated from the leachate leaking from the dump trucks that passed by Carcar City.

A Notice of Violation was also issued on January 10 of the same year for starting the development of the landfill even without an approved ECC.

Cirunay said the “so-called landfill” is not an engineered landfill as mandated by the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000. These areas in Barangays Punay and Tampaan are actually dumpsites long ordered closed way back in 2004. The operator also allegedly failed to comply with the Clean Water Act of 2004.

San Rafael Landfill Corporation is also reportedly constructing a third dumpsite in Barangay Angilan. While there is an application for an ECC, Cirunay said there must be a full-blown Environment Impact Assessment.

Meanwhile, Cirunay said the LGU respondents allegedly failed to reclassify the proposed site from agricultural lands into non-agricultural uses, as provided in the Local Government Code.

Citing extreme urgency in its prayer for issuance of TEPO, Cirunay said the continued construction of a new dumpsite and operation of the other dumpsites in the town will result in grave and irreparable damage to the environment and the residents of Aloguinsan and other municipalities.

Cirunay also prayed to declare null and void any ECC issued in favor of San Rafael Landfill Corporation and all ordinances and resolutions pertaining to the reclassification of agricultural lands subject of the case into industrial or commercial lands.

At the Capitol, Governor Gwendolyn Garcia challenged Cirunay to know the people actually involved in the issue.

"Whoever that complainant is, maayo tingali usa nga usa siya mag-file og complaint, klarohon niya kinsa iyang reklamohan (Whoever that complainant is, it would be better if he makes sure who the people are that he is complaining about)," Garcia said.

She said the landfill Cirunay is complaining about began operations before she returned to the provincial government as governor.

"Pagkahimo ana, di pa man ko gobernador so wala gid koy executive functions; Legislation ang akong papel (When the landfill was established, I wasn’t governor yet so I did not have executive functions; I was doing legislative work)," she added.

The facilities in question were established during the time of former governor Hilario Davide III during which Garcia was still congresswoman representing Cebu’s Third District. (FREEMAN)