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Friday, May 13, 2005
Peña: Enforcing the solid waste law
By Rox Peña
IT LOOKS like a lawyer's group is making good its threat of filing lawsuits against local government officials who fail to implement Republic Act (RA) 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Law.
The National Environmental Action Team (Neat) of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) headed by Atty. Antonio Oposa, Jr. has been issuing warnings to local government units (LGUs) since last year to comply with the solid waste law or face lawsuits. Now they have started filing charges against those who failed to heed their call. The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has found a strong ally in this group in enforcing environmental laws.
Oposa has been in the forefront in the campaign to implement the Solid Waste Management Act. His track record in environmental law includes being legal consultant to US funded Coastal Resources Management Project, World Bank, Asian Development Bank and World Wildlife Fund. He received the United Nations Environmental program (Unep) Global 500 Roll of Honor Award in Seoul Korea in 1997.
Last Tuesday, I learned from the late evening news that charges were filed before the Environmental Ombudsman by the group of Atty. Oposa against Metro Manila Mayors JV Ejercito of San Juan, Florencio Bernabe Jr. of Parañaque and Canuto Oreta of Malabon for allegedly violating RA 9003.
RA 9003 was passed into law last January 2001. It requires among other things waste reduction, segregation, recycling and composting. Among its controversial provision is the closure of open dumpsites three years after the law's effectivity. Up to now, many LGUs have not complied with this requirement.
The lawsuits against the three Metro Manila Mayors are not the first. Last December 2004, IBP filed criminal and administrative complaint against Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Arturo Radaza and his wife for their purported failure to enforce RA 9003. Mayor Radaza's wife, the Barangay Captain of Mactan, was included in the suit because the city's open dumpsite is located in her village.
The suit is not without warning though. As early as Sept. 06, 2004, notices were sent by the IBP to the City Governments of Cebu, Mandaue, Talisay and Lapu-Lapu for their non-compliance to the solid waste law. Mayor Tomas Osmeña of Cebu at first reacted negatively to the notice but did make substantial compliance afterwards, while Talisay and Mandaue tried their best to conform. Lapu-Lapu on the other hand did not reply with the notice but only gave a copy of their environmental program.
Here in our province, our governor and all mayors signed last February 18, 2005 a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the DENR for the adoption and implementation of solid waste management plans in Pampanga. No less than Secretary Michael Defensor signed in behalf of the DENR. I wanted to witness this historic event but we were then having our Recyclables Collection Event in the environmental Practitioners Association at the Nepo Quadrangle in Angeles City.
I hope our local officials would seriously implement that MOA, otherwise Atty. Oposa's group might also bring his environmental crusade here in Pampanga. The good lawyer was quoted as saying that if they can sue mayors in Manila, they can also do it to the leaders of small towns.
(May 13, 2005 issue)
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