Oro officials only among the many summoned by ombud

MAYOR Oscar Moreno and other present and former Cagayan de Oro officials were not the only ones summoned by the Office of the Ombudsman to answer for the continued practice of open dumping of garbage in violation of the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act.

Over a hundred mayors, vice mayors and environmental protection officers from 50 local governments were summoned by a fact-finding team over accusations that they violated RA 9003.

Of the 50 local governments facing cases with the ombudsman, seven are from the Davao region and nearby provinces and cities. All were charged with failure to implement the Solid Waste Management Program in their respective localities.

Others are from Kidapawan and Koronadal and the municipalities of Valencia in Bukidnon, Loreto in Agusan del Sur, Marihatag in Surigao del Sur and General Luna in Surigao del Norte.

A provision of RA 9003 which was implemented in 2000 prohibits the establishment or operation of open dump site. The law also mandates that, upon its effectivity in 2003, every local government must convert its open dumps to controlled dumps.

The Environmental Ombudsman team headed by Deputy Ombudsman for Luzon Gerard Mosquera is also set to shut down the open dumpsites of the local governments. The fact-finding is part of a sweeping campaign on the proper disposal of garbage.

“The time for accountability has come. We will continue to charge… if they continue to violate,” Mosquera said.

Mosquera said there are 50 mayors, 50 vice mayors and 450 environmental protection officers under investigation for the first batch of the 500 local governments under investigation. A second batch with 100 local governments would also be summoned mid-next year.

According to Mosquera, they were giving notices year in year out even to the extent of threatening the officials that they would be sued but many still failed to follow the law.

Mosquera said the local officials themselves have admitted they failed to implement the law on reasons that they lack spaces for landfill and insufficient resources.

“But these are not legitimate excuses,” he said.

He said that most of them have been mayors for nine years while some have been mayors for 12 years, yet they continue to violate the law despite notices given to them several times.

All had the chance to implement the law, Mosquera said.

“They were subpoenaed to come to Davao City to explain why they continue to violate the law,” said Mosquera.

Mosquera said they will look at the possible liability of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), which is mandated to oversee the implementation and compliance of the law.

Last year, Engr. Eligio Ildefonso, executive director of the Solid Waste Management Commission, said 1,634 towns and cities have complied with the law.

There are only 120 sanitary landfills all over the country which is only less 10 percent of the total requirements nationwide. Many of the non-compliant local governments still operate open dump sites. Open dump-sites should have been closed in 2006.  (pna)