THE Court of Appeals has commended the Baguio City Government for its efforts to rehabilitate the Irisan dumpsite.
In a resolution dated June 27, Associate Justice Ricardo Rosario cited the monitoring report submitted by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and of the City Government on the activities inside the closed facility.
The DENR reported the “facility remained closed for dumping and was secured, as it is secured, with perimeter fence.”
“As previously observed, the Irisan Dumpsite has not been used for dumping, the area has slowly been covered with natural vegetation or grasses and weeds,” the reports notes.
The DENR also noted the presence of mounds of compost inside the facility and the continued operation of the Environmental Recycling System for the processing of the biodegradable wastes.
“The retaining walls, its buttresses, perimeter canals, storm/surface runoff canals, fence and other engineering structures, are still intact, serving their purpose.”
The city for its part submitted its semestral updates on the closure and rehabilitation plan of the facility, saying the two ERS machines continue to accommodate and process daily delivered wastes collected from the city market and barangays.
It also informed the development plan is placed for the conversion of the site into an eco-park center and that the 10-year ecological solid waste management plan has been approved by the National Solid Waste Management Commission.
“The Court commends the efforts of the concerned government officials for the rehabilitation of the closed Irisan dumpsite,” the court said.
The submission of periodic monitoring reports on the status of the facility was among the court’s requirements when it approved the compromise agreement for the settlement of the Writ of Kalikasan case against the city government and city officials over the use of the Irisan dumpsite in 2012. (Aileen Refuerzo/PIO)