ALOGUINSAN LANDFILL. A garbage truck enters the gate of the Aloguinsan landfill in Barangay Tampaan during the CDN visit on the site, May 18, 2018. The CDN team was barred from entering the landfill area.
THE Aloguinsan landfill used by Cebu City to dump its garbage has an existing cease-and-desist order from the Environmental Management Bureau in Central Visayas (EMB-7).
According to EMB-7 Regional Director William Cuñado, the landfill should not be used as it has yet toprovide the required mitigating measures that will ensure that it will not negatively impact its immediate environment.
Cuñado said the landfill management has yet to complete the construction of its waste water management facility, which was the primary
reason why it has a standing CDO.
“CDO pa man na sila. Naa man nay standing CDO although I forgot unsa to nga date na-issue ang CDO but di pa na sila dapat mag-operate gyud (It has a standing CDO. I forgot what date it was issued but it should not operate just yet),” said Cuñado.
Unaware
The Cebu City Department of Public Services (DPS) was however not aware of an existing CDO against the Aloguinsan landfill, said DPS chief Roberto Cabarrubias.
He said he will schedule a meeting on Monday with Pasajero Motors Corp. (Pamocor), the service provider contracted to collect and dispose of the city’s garbage to determine if they are aware of the CDO. Pamocor dumps the garbage it collected to the Aloguinsan landfill.
“Technically, this issue should be between the private service provider and the owners or operators of the landfill in Aloguinsan,” said Cabarrubias.
But since it involved the city government, it has to look into the matter, he added.
Around 200 to 300 tons of the garbage collected daily are being brought to Aloguinsan by Pamocor.
Cebu Daily News tried to contact Franklin Ong, proprietor of Pamocor, but all attempts were futile.
Cabarrubias said that when Pamocor was awarded in 2017 the bid to haul the city’s garbage, the firm did not mention anything about a CDO against the Aloguinsan landfill. The city government spent P300 million for Pamocor’s services in 2017.
But Cabarrubias assured that the daily collection of garbage from all 80 barangays in Cebu City will not be hampered since Pamocor also dumps garbage at another landfill facility in Consolacion town, in northeastern Cebu, which is owned and operated by Asian Energy Systems Corp.
“We’re also dumping our trash in Consolacion town so our garbage collection will not be really affected,” he explained.
Complaints
The sanitary landfill, which covers an 11.6- hectare stretch of land, is located at the boundary of Barangays Tampaan and Punay in Aloguinsan.
Residents of Barangay Tampaan, where the dump trucks carrying trash to the facility pass by on a daily basis, expressed concern that their water system would be contaminated because of the leachate coming from the landfill.
They also said the management of the landfill should do something to minimize the stench coming from the facility.
The residents claimed that there was no public hearing conducted prior to the construction of the landfill.
Tarcisio Larisma, the incumbent village chief of Barangay Tampaan, said they have raised the concern to the Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office (Penro) but this has not yet been acted upon.
Larisma also confirmed that some dump trucks going to the facility passed by the barangay hall yesterday, May 24.
Ownership
The Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) posted at the entry point of the facility showed that the landfill is owned by Rafael Moreno, younger brother of Aloguinsan Mayor Ignatius Caesare Moreno.
In an interview with Cebu Daily News, Aloguinsan Public Information Officer Oscar Canino said the mayor already issued a memorandum to the Municipal Environment and Natural Resources Office (Menro) to investigate the complaints of the residents.
Canino said that although the landfill is owned by the mayor’s brother, the mayor is willing to order the closure of the landfill if it poses a danger to the residents in the area.
“The mayor has already ordered me to draft a letter to Mr. Rafael Moreno, asking him to close the landfill if he will not be able to address the concerns of the residents,” said Canino.
Canino said he was only waiting for the final inspection report of the Menro before drafting the letter for Rafael.
Initial findings of the Menro showed that the garbage dumped in the facility is covered with limestone to minimize the odor.
“Ang EMB man gyod ang naay tahas ana nga mo-monitor. Kung mahimo, magpadala sila og personnel diri ug padlockan nila kung di gyod maayo ang pagkatrabaho. Mo-follow man gyud ta sa standards,” said Canino.
Canino stressed that since it was the EMB that issued the CDO, it should send personnel to padlock the landfill.
Fines
Meanwhile, Cuñado said that they will send personnel to the landfill to verify if it was being used despite the standing CDO.
Cuñado warned that the landfill’s proponent may be fined if it is proven that it was operated without the completion of their water treatment facility.
In 2017, the same landfill was fined by EMB with P27,500 for starting to develop the land into a landfill without the ECC.
Data from DPS revealed that Cebu City produces an average of 600 tons of trash daily, more than half of which were classified as biodegradable wastes consisting of rotten food, fruit peelings and kitchen wastes. /WITH REPORTER MOREXETTE MARIE B. ERRAM