This is how the B. Rodriguez Bridge station of the Guadalupe River looks like after two hours of clean-up drive on August 17, 2019 . | Delta Dyrecka Letigio
CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Cebu City Environment and Natural Resources Office (Cenro) has collected at least P500,000 in fines or penalties from city residents and establishments caught violating the city’s anti-littering ordinance.
Lawyer John Jigo Dacua, Cenro head, said the fines, ranging from P1,000 to P50,000, were collected in only three months, or since Mayor Edgardo Labella’s administration took over in July 2019.
More than 500 individuals and establishments were reprimanded, issued citation tickets and fined for throwing garbage into the river, releasing wastewater directly into the river without treatment, and for disposing garbage into the wrong places.
At least four barangays have been cited as well for violating environmental laws, mainly for failing to apprehend or warn residents along riverbanks who are polluting the water.
Among the barangays cited was Barangay Zapatera following the viral photos of the village’s alleged illegal trash transfer station located just beside its barangay hall.
Cenro has lodged a complaint before the city council against Zapatera Barangay Captain Francisco Benedicto, who has denied the allegations, saying that the area only served to temporarily store the barangay’s garbage until the hauler could take them to the authorized transfer station in Barangay Inayawan.
The City Council has formed a committee of three to handle the complaint.
Councilor Phillip Zafra, a committee member, said they already sent a notice to explain to Benedicto, a requirement before they could begin the investigation.
“If he does not explain himself in 10 days, he will lose the opportunity to defend himself before the trial. Still, we will undergo the proper process,” said Zafra.
As for Dacua, he said that their decision to lodge a complaint against Benedicto should serve as a notice to all barangays in the city that Cenro would strictly enforce the laws meant to protect the city’s rivers.
“We will continue to enforce the law. I have sent out our enforcers, patrols, to check the state of the rivers. Mobalik gyud gihapon ang basura so padayon ta sa pagdakop (The garbage keeps on coming back so we will continue to apprehend violators),” said Dacua.
Dacua said that aside from the river cleanups that they had been conducting in the last three months, they were also plan to conduct massive dredging, desilting, and widening of the city’s rivers.
However, he said this might take time because this would involve relocating the informal settlers, and strictly implementing the three-meter easement along riverbanks.
He said the city had already begun coordinating with the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) so that they could start these projects./dbs