THE chair of the Davao City Council Committee on Environment and Natural Resources revealed that they have invited persons of interest and companies allegedly involved in the illegal dumping of hazardous waste in Brgy. Mudiang and Indangan Davao City for a committee hearing.
“Ang style diay nila kay para magtambak og charcoal with oil is magdala-dala sila og truck daan unya magsuroy-suroy nga murag nanglako,” Councilor Tek Ocampo, Chairperson of CENR, said during the Davao City Disaster Radio interview on August 30, 2022.
(Their scheme in dumping these wastes is to bring these with them and they will roam around the city as if to peddle.)
Ocampo said these companies will offer the residents or land owners to fill their roads or space for free without informing the land owners or residents that what they are filling is hazardous waste that they have brought with them.
“Mura ni siya’g aspalto kung init pero kung tig-ulan, danlog ni siya ug humok kay mogawas gyud ang mantika,” Ocampo said.
(It looks like asphalt if it is hot, but if it is rainy, it is very slippery since the oil will come out.)
Currently, the residents of Purok 1 and 2 of Barangay Mudiang and Purok Kalambo, Indangan have put the waste beside the road to avoid vehicular accidents.
Ocampo said the oil from the hazardous waste has streamed into the creek in Barangay Mudiang. The creek is connected to the Lasang River.
“Dapat naa gyud manubag niini, kay violation gyud ni, pataka ra ka’g labay,” Ocampo said.
(Someone should be punished because this is a violation and they have dumped this waste illegally.)
Republic Act 6969, also known as the “Toxic Substances and Hazardous and Nuclear Wastes Control Act of 1990,” states the limiting or banning the importation, production, sale, distribution, use, and disposal of chemical substances and mixtures that pose an unreasonable risk to human health or the environment, prohibiting the entry of hazardous and nuclear wastes, even in transit, and their disposal within the Philippine territorial limits for any reason, and advancing and facilitating research and studies on toxins.
Any individual who violates Section 13 (a) to (c) of this Act and is not protected by the Probation Law shall be subject to a sentence of imprisonment ranging from six months to six years and one day, as well as a fine of between P600 and P4,000.
However, if the partner, president, director or manager who consents to or knowingly tolerates any violation of the act by a partnership, corporation, association, or any other juridical person shall be directly liable and responsible for the act of the employees and shall be criminally liable as a co-principal.