THE Mandaue City Government will file charges against an establishment that dumped bunker oil in a canal that is part of the drainage system of Barangays Banilad and Casungtingan.

Mayor Luigi Quisumbing, in a Facebook post, said they’ve received complaints about the stench coming from the canal in the past few days.

Its origin was later traced to used oil that a food processing company had dumped into the waterway that made its way across the two barangays.

Aracelli Barlam of the Mandaue City Environment and Natural Resources Office (Cenro) said they were able to confirm the source last Wednesday.

Possible violations

The mayor said that the barangay and Cenro were able to extract nearly 20 barrels of used oil from the canal.

Barlam said that they’re expecting representatives from the company at their office today for the investigation.

He said they are studying if the company violated any national law because the violation for the City’s anti-littering ordinance is only P5,000.

He added that the company may also have violated fisheries laws since the used oil they dumped into the canal had reached open sea.

Meanwhile, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources 7 will also conduct its own investigation on the matter.

Environment and Management Bureau 7 Director William Cuñado also said he will send a team to both barangays to check the extent of the contamination. (JPP with a report from JKV)