MORE congressmen have joined the call for a congressional investigation into the shipment of garbage from South Korea to Misamis Oriental.
Rep. Juliette Uy of Misamis Oriental’s 2nd District yesterday said the congressmen crossed party lines to urge the House of Representatives to investigate deeper into what she called as “the illegal entry and dumping of hazardous plastic garbage from South Korea” at the Phividec Industrial Estate in Tagoloan town.
Uy has filed House Resolution 2317 to call on the House Committee on Ecology to look into the shipment of 51 container vans of garbage from South Korea that were offloaded from the vessel MV Affluent Ocean at the Mindanao International Container Terminal in the Phividec Industrial Estate in Tagoloan, Misamis Oriental in July 21.
Joining Uy are Reps. Ma. Lourdes Acosta-Alba (1st District, Bukidnon), Frederick Siao (Lone District, Iligan City), Jorge Almonte (1st District, Misamis Occidental), Henry Oaminal (2nd District, Misamis Occidental), Rep. Rogelio Neil Roque (4th District, Bukidnon) of the Nacionalista Party;
Reps. Rolando Uy (1st District, Cagayan de Oro City) and Xavier Jesus Romualdo (Lone District, Camiguin) of PDP-Laban, Maximo Rodriguez Jr. (2nd District, Cagayan de Oro City) of the Centrist Democratic Party, and Manuel Zubiri (3rd District, Bukidnon) of the Bukidnon Paglaum Party (BPP).
Co-authors are Reps. Florencio Flores Jr. (2nd District, Bukidnon), Mohamad Khalid Dimaporo (1st District, Lanao del Norte), Abdullah Dimaporo, (2nd District, Lanao del Norte) and Peter Unabia (Misamis Oriental, 1st District).
They cited Article II, Section 16 of the Constitution, that “the State shall protect and advance the right of the people to a balanced and healthful ecology in accord with the rhythm and harmony of nature.”
They said the House needed to exercise its oversight function to probe the alleged import and environmental law violations committed by VNS Verde Soko Philippines Industrial Corp., the consignee of the garbage shipment.
“It is incumbent on the House of Representatives to investigate how the illegal shipment of hazardous plastic garbage from South Korea was allowed entry into the Philippines by certain agencies of government when in fact we still are facing the challenge of managing our own solid waste in the country,” the lawmakers stated.
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) said Verde Soko was not an authorized importer of recyclable materials and therefore had no import license for the same.
Another report from the environmental quality division of the DENR’s Environment Management Bureau (EMB) said the shipment, aside from the declared plastics, contained 31.7 tons of trash classified as “special or hazardous waste.”
“The envisioned inquiry shall also help in coming up with the appropriate recommendations to hold parties accountable for this illegal garbage shipment, effect the immediate return of the trash to South Korea and come up with a new policy to ban the entry of foreign garbage and waste into the Philippines as our country is not a dumpsite for other countries,” they stated. (pr)
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