THE courts may have zero cases in relation to violations of Republic Act (RA) 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act, but this may not be good news.

The absence of cases involving violations of the law is not a thing to be happy about, said City Prosecutor Alfredo Centeno.

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“This indicates two things. It may be good because it is presumed there are no violators of the law (RA 9003). But it is also bad because there may be lack of concerns or people do not know they can file cases against violators of the law,” he said.

Centeno told members of the Regional Peace and Order Council (RPOC) that not a single case on RA 9003 was filed before the courts.

“There are no cases filed in relation to RA 9003, despite the fact that the maintenance of the open dumpsites is already a violation,” he said.

Local government units are mandated by the law to close their open dumpsites and establish their respective sanitary landfills.

Benguet Governor and RPOC chairman Nestor Fongwan said there is a need for the strict implementation of the solid waste management law in the region.

“We never saw a test (case of) the law. It is high time we enforce this,” he said.

According to Centeno, one of the reasons for the absence of court cases on RA 9003 violation is the lack of public awareness.

“Not that the people are afraid to sue the violators. They just don’t know they can file cases against the violators. It is so provide that any private individual can sue,” he said, adding that the court welcomes complaints of RA 9003 violations.