FORMER Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) secretary Gina Lopez wants to help the Cebu City Government in rehabilitating the Inayawan Sanitary Landfill and in other environment-related concerns.
In a text message sent to City Councilor Joel Garganera last Friday, Lopez said she is dismayed by the current situation in the slum area near the dump site.
Although she did not specify if it is the closed landfill or the transfer station used by the service provider for hauling garbage, Lopez said she wanted to help. Lopez will be in Cebu on Thursday for a talk at the University of San Carlos and she wants Garganera, who chairs the committee on environment in the City Council, to meet her and discuss the matter.
“I will see what I can do to help. The sight of the children running in toxic water was heart-wrenching. This is Gina Lopez. I am starting an organization which may be able to help you. Let’s talk,” read portion of her text message to Garganera.
In a separate interview, Garganera said he will meet Lopez and discuss with her the garbage management problems of the city and illegal quarrying, among others.
Garganera said that he plans to file a motion before the Court of Appeals (CA) to compel the executive department to furnish a copy of the rehabilitation efforts the City is doing for the landfill.
“I haven’t seen the program of works for the rehabilitation of the landfill. The City has to be transparent. We want to have a copy of the rehabilitation efforts that they have been doing to see if they are complying with the order of CA,” he said.
Earlier, Garganera filed a petition for Writ of Kalikasan before that CA that led to the closure of the city-operated landfill late last year.
Lopez, who was then secretary of DENR, also went to Cebu and recommended that the City should stop using the landfill.