The Department of Environment and Natural Resources yesterday warned local officials whose areas still maintain open dumpsites, including 12 in Negros Occidental, to close these facilities within six months, or charges will be filed against them.

“I am giving the local government units a grace period of six months to comply with the law,” Environment Secretary Lito Atienza said in a statement from his office.

But he said that after two months, DENR regional officials will start checking on the compliance of the concerned LGUs.

Atienza said there are still 826 open dumpsites in various parts of the country.

A list of open dumpsites of the National Solid Waste Management Commission, as of the fourth quarter of 2007, shows that 12 of the 826 listed are in Negros Occidental.

These are located in Brgy. Felisa, Bacolod City; Sitio Pandan, Brgy. Ma-ao, Bago City; Sitio Minubuno, Brgy. Tigbon, Calatrava; Brgy. Mabini, Escalante City; Brgy. Iglau-an, Murcia; Hacienda Coscolluela, Brgy. Poblacion II, Sagay City; Brgy. Poblacion, San Enrique; Brgy. E. Lopez, Silay City; Brgy. Gil Montilla, Sipalay City; Zone III, Brgy. Catabla, Talisay City; and Hacienda San Ramon, Victorias City.

“The LGUs have been given sufficient time already to comply with Republic Act 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act,” Atienza said.

He said the law calls for the closure of all open dumpsites within three years after its effectivity. “The law was passed in 2000, yet to this day, there are still 826 open dumpsites all over the country,” he added.

Atienza cited Section 1, Rule 13 of R.A. 9003 which provides that within three years from the effectivity of the law, all open dumpsites shall be converted to controlled dumpsites.

Controlled dumpsites are to be operated only within five years, and beyond this period these facilities shall be deemed closed and phased out.

Atienza said open dumpsites are very unsanitary because these attract all kinds of parasites that could make people ill, and garbage accumulated in the dumpsites produce leachate that contaminate the groundwater.

Methane gas emitted by decaying organic matter in dumpsites has greater global warming potential by about 21 times as compared to carbon dioxide, he also said.

Atienza said the DENR through its regional offices will extend technical assistance to LGUs in hastening the closure and rehabilitation of their dumpsites and in establishing materials recovery facilities and looking for potential sites for sanitary landfills.

He also asked local officials to encourage their constituents to practice garbage recycling.

In March 2006, then Gov. Joseph Marañon had already required mayors in Negros Occidental to attend a workshop-training conducted by the NSWMC on compliance options under R.A. 9003, specifically the closure and rehabilitation of open dump sites.

Back then, NSWMC reports indicated that Negros Occidental, compared to other areas in the country, has a high percentage of compliance with the provisions of R.A. 9003, with E.B. Magalona town leading the rest of the LGUs in the province as it is already in the recycling stage.

Last month, the National Environment Task Force of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines-Western Visayas said they are planning to file lawsuits against local officials in the region who fail to enforce the provisions of R. A. 9003.

IBP-Western Visayas, headed by Dumaguete-based Raymund Mercado, includes lawyers from Romblon, Guimaras, Iloilo, Negros Occidental, Negros Oriental, and Siquijor.

Mercado said they will send warnings to LGUs in the region to comply with the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act or face charges.*NLG

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