THE 30-year-old ordinance you refer to is City Ordinance 1361, enacted on Feb. 5, 1990 prior to RA 9003.
But there is a newer ordinance, 2031, entitled “An Ordinance for the Implementation of Solid Waste Segregation at Source, Providing Penalties for Violations Thereof, and the Creation of a Special Fund for Incentives,” authored by Councilor Nestor Archival, enacted on Nov. 10, 2004, and patterned after RA 9003. This ordinance effectively repealed/amended/modified parts of Ordinance 1361 which are inconsistent therewith.
Section 7.1 of Ordinance 2031 provides for a strict schedule of collection as determined by the Cebu City Solid Waste Management Board, and the formulation of an IRR (Section 16) thru the SWMB “for the effective implementation of any and all provisions of this ordinance, thereby ensuring compliance thereto.”
The bigger problem is in the enforcement of segregation. The Commission on Audit, in its Audit Observation Memorandum, said that the failure of the City Government to enforce the segregation policy resulted in millions spent for hauling garbage. Historical figures from the City Treasurer’s Office would show that annual revenues from garbage fees is only 1/3 of the total annual cost in handling garbage.
This failure in segregation, which Ordinance 2031 tries to address, results to increasing cost in solid waste management. Soon, even the facility in Binaliw will run out of space because this collect-and-dump system is a failure.
These concerns may be addressed by coming up with an IRR of Ordinance 2031 and a strict schedule of collection (provided segregation is practiced) cascaded to all barangays. Even disposal, which Hon. Vice Mayor Rama identified as the “bigger problem,” shall be addressed because only a small percentage of residual waste, around 10% or 86 tons daily from the total of 861 tons per day (year 2015, draft 10-Year SWM Plan), should be disposed to landfills thru strict segregation.
Unless in crafting a Solid Waste Management Code, you intend to include the establishment of a waste-to-energy incineration facility, which we view as a quick fix false solution, not sustainable, and runs counter to the Clean Air Act. The City Government already rejected a proposed P4-Billion Gasification Facility in 2012. The lack of segregation will further make a WtE incineration facility unsustainable. As Dr. Paul Connett, an Environmental Chemistry and Toxicology expert said, “no technology in the world, even an incinerator, can process mixed wastes without harming the environment and the people.”
Last point: the problem with Ordinance 1361, as amended by Ordinance 2018, is its Garbage Fee, which is based on the floor area of the establishment (a smaller size fast food outlet may generate a bigger volume of solid waste compared to a bigger size office). The City’s Ordinance No. 2018 is similar to Ordinance SP-2235, S-2013 of Quezon City, which the Supreme Court en banc deemed “unconstitutional and illegal.” (GR 210551).