THE Philippine Military Academy (PMA) will be handling the solid waste of barangays near it.

This was the commitment relayed by the PMA administration, through Colonel Nilo Perfecto, officer-in-charge of the academy’s solid waste division, during a meeting with acting Mayor Daniel Fariñas and some department heads on Tuesday.

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The City Government’s counterpart, meantime, will provide technical assistance, equipment and manpower for the establishment of a materials recovery facility (MRF).

The PMA asked the Department of the Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to inspect the 300-hectare reservation for the identification of a site where an MRF may be established.

Perfecto said a five-hectare property may be reserved to serve as MRF for barangays surrounding the PMA reservation.

The academy presently collects garbage generated within the reservation, Pinesville subdivision and in military quarters at Navy Base in St. Joseph barangay and at Camp Henry Allen, using its existing MRF.

The compost produced in the MRF is used in the gardens of the academy. Residual waste, on the other hand, is brought straight to the Irisan dumpsite where sorters sell recyclable materials.

Barangays in district 12, such as Kias, Loakan-Apugan, Loakan Proper, Atok Trail and Fort del Pilar, will benefit from this plan.

The PMA’s offer to use a portion of the reservation for MRF is in response to a directive of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo during her August visit for various government offices to allow use of their property for MRFs.

Fariñas called for an emergency meeting Tuesday to correct the misimpression by members of the council that the executive branch is concentrating on hauling alone, but failed to pursue long-term waste reduction and disposal, despite several resolutions passed, which all geared towards “solving” the garbage crisis.

Simultaneous with requests for funding to haul out garbage, Fariñas instructed staff of the mayor’s office and some department heads to monitor the bid process for MRFs, as well as to look how far the survey of the Sto. Tomas landfill has gone.

Last week, Mayor Reinaldo Bautista Jr. ordered the City Environment and Parks Management (Cepmo) to collect three weeks’ worth of garbage.

The pile was brought to the Irisan transfer station for hauling to Capas, Tarlac.

Reuben Cervantes, Cepmo solid waste management member, reported that there are 27 barangays where garbage still needs to be collected. By Wednesday, all barangays would have been serviced, he added.

Fariñas, meanwhile, asked Association of Barangay Councils (ABC) president Joel Alangsab and the media to disseminate to the public not to bring out their latest batches of trash, pending a decision from the City Council.