With the Court of Appeals (CA) ruling favorably on the Writ of Kalikasan yet holding off on issuing a Temporary Environment Restraining Order (Tepo), the onus of resolving the debate over the Inayawan landfill’s fate is again placed on the Osmeña administration.
And despite a court meeting between Councilor Joel Garganera, who filed the writ, and the mayor’s lawyers and an order by CA Justice Gabriel Ingles to allow them to negotiate for a settlement, it looks like only a Tepo will stop Mayor Osmeña from continuing to operate the landfill.
In buttressing his argument against dumping the city’s garbage anew to the Consolacion landfill, Osmeña argued that most of the city’s trucks are damaged and the city doesn’t have the budget for the tipping fees to the private landfill facility owner.
His position already hardened when t he operator went to his office to demand payment for the more than P20 million unpaid tipping fees from January to June this year.
But we’d like to believe that the City Council resolution allowing the mayor to negotiate with landfill operators isn’t confined only to the Consolacion facility despite Judge Ingles’ position that the city government should negotiate with them for a new deal.
Again, if there is something anomalous about the previous arrangement with the Consolacion landfill owner which wasn’t covered by a contract as the mayor insisted, then by all means the city government should file charges against former Cebu City mayor Michael Rama and those responsible for the deal.
Would a renegotiation with the Consolacion landfill facility operator somewhat justify and give an air of legitimacy to the previous deal? It looks to be that way, and Osmeña may suggest that the Commission on Audit (COA) would call the city out on any deals existing or renegotiated with the operator.
The mayor invited the CA judges on a guided tour of the Inayawan landfill to show them that it can still be operational for a few more years, but we believe that weekly air quality tests and actual inspection of the facility will determine if it doesn’t cause any harm to the surrounding areas and if it is still fit to operate.
If the Consolacion landfill is not a go, what other options are available aside from the Inayawan landfill? We could only hazard a guess that this will be a protracted dispute unless the Court of Appeals steps in and issues the Tepo.
What is apparent now is that the mayor is hard pressed to lobby for the continued operation of the Inayawan landfill, and his offer of a court inspection could delay the resolution of this problem further.
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