CEBU City Mayor Tomas Osmeña accused Councilor Joel Garganera of “spreading fake news” on the tons of garbage shipped to Cebu from South Korea, saying the councilor would benefit from it.
“(It is) obviously Garganera. He is the only one who benefits out of the fake news. Pabida-bida siya (He’s promoting himself),” the mayor said.
The mayor’s accusation stemmed from a letter sent by a concerned taxpayer to the Office of the President.
The letter writer claimed that the mayor and some former local and customs officials planned to benefit from the garbage shipped from South Korea that they supposedly intend to dump at the landfill in Barangay Inayawan, Cebu City.
The tons of plastic materials instead ended up in a private lot in Mandaue City, while several tons of wood chips also from South Korea remain stored in a warehouse in Barangay Guizo, Mandaue City.
Osmeña denied the allegation and said he ordered the reopening of the Inayawan landfill to enable the city to save money on tipping fees charged by a commercial landfill in Consolacion town.
“I never got any talks or discussion on anything about putting garbage on any place especially from Korea, from anyone,” he said.
Osmeña said the landfill in Inayawan had enough room to accommodate approximately two more years of garbage.
The city needs the available space for its own and not for anyone else, he said.
He said his name was dragged in the issue by the opposition Barug Team Rama.
“Team Rama has a reputation for fake news. That is a fact. In every election, I am dying right? They kept repeating themselves,” he said.
Garganera said the mayor must be “obsessed” with him for leveling these accusations against him.
He said he knew about the “serious allegations” when he read newspaper reports.
“Sometimes I think that’s probably why he reopened the landfill because he had a plan,” Garganera said.
He said he filed a Writ of Kalikasan against the reopening of the landfill based on findings from the Departments of Health (DOH) and Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and not on his own assessment.
Garganera said Osmeña didn’t file a single case against the previous administration for supposedly paying a commercial landfill operator to receive the city’s garbage even without a contract.
“I am not saying it is true but him insinuating that (it came from me, that’s irresponsible of him),” he said.