Bacolod Mayor Evelio Leonardia yesterday said he believes the requirement of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources for local government units to come up with a landfill site is not realistic.

“That is easier said than done,” Leonardia said in a phone interview, when asked for his reaction. He added that he will raise the matter before the League of Cities of the Philippines so it could be taken up by LCP national president Benhur Abalos in the board.

The DENR had 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.

Environment Secretary Lito Atienza, in a statement from his office, said that he is giving the LGU’s a grace period of six months to comply with the law.

While maybe the intentions are good, and probably they believe the landfill is a very good solution, Leonardia said, however, a landfill is a very expensive project and he believes many LGU’s cannot even afford to come up with one.

“What is reality and what is ideal are two entirely different things,” he said. “The matter has to be discussed and studied thoroughly,” he added.

“I’m sure that if a survey is conducted in the whole Philippines now, perhaps less than 5 percent of the LGU’s have complied with the landfill requirement,” Leonardia said. It’s no joke to put up a landfill, so that if Bacolod is even pondering on the difficulty of putting up a landfill, how much more the other LGU’s?” He asked.

Leonardia said that, in a way, it is good that Atienza gave the warning so this will be a reminder and a wake-up call for everybody.  “Even if we start to put up a landfill today, I don’t think we can come up with a facility in six months,” he said.

He recalled that he had even proposed earlier that the law (R.A. 9003) itself should be reviewed in the light of realities. The requirement of a landfill must be somehow adjusted to suit the capabilities of the LGU’s, he said.

It is not just Bacolod involved, but everybody, Leonardia added.

Asked to react on the warning issued by Atienza that charges will be filed against LGU’s who fail to come up with the landfill requirement, Leonardia said those are occupational hazards. But if ever that happens, they have to be fair with everybody and have no favoritism, he said.

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.

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

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.*CGS

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