Penal provisions of Republic Act (RA) 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000 outlines the penalties that should be imposed against individuals who defy the implementation of the said law from petty offenses up to the gravest offense. What is noticeable in the detailed violations and corresponding penalties are the fines and imprisonment imposed against local officials who continue to defy the explicit provisions of the law for local governments to shut down the operation of their open dumpsites and install state-of-the-art controlled dumpsites for the guaranteed preservation and protection of the state of the environment and the health of their constituencies. The highest penalty to be imposed against erring officials for their failure to comply with the law is a fine of up to P1 million or imprisonment up to 6 years or both upon the discretion of the court. The Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) is tasked to document evidence to presented against them on which will be based the decision of the court.
Solid waste management is one of the most sensitive matters confronting most local government units to date because of the need for local officials to stop the use of traditional open dumping and find appropriate solutions for the cities and municipalities to satisfactorily comply with the provisions of the law. The implementation of segregation of waste at source, recycling of waste, among other small things that should be done by all the residents in a locality is not sufficient to address the increasing volume of waste generated by rapidly increasing population, especially in urban centers.
On a larger scale, some local governments have been able to put up their controlled dump facilities but the said sites were rapidly filled up forcing the concerned localities to expand such sites to accommodate the increasing volume of waste. Other local governments decided to establish their own temporary residual containment areas while others opted to haul out their waste to the nearest engineered sanitary landfill site. Worst, most of the local governments in the region continue to practice and/or allow open dumping on rivers, lakes and other waterways, a major violation of the law that must be penalized.
Among the issues being encountered by local governments in the region for their failure to establish their own solid waste disposal facilities that are environmentally-friendly are the absence of sufficient lands, people’s misconception of controlled dump facilities, social acceptability of the project, and the insufficient funds for the put up of such capital-intensive projects.
It will not only the local chief executive that will be charged for violations of the solid waste disposal law but even members of the city or municipal council and appointive officials responsible for environment-related concerns like those environment and natural resources officer, and those responsible officials involved in solid waste management. Thus, the need for all local officials in cities, municipalities, and provinces to get their acts together in finding sustainable ways of solving their solid waste management problems.
We challenge the EMB-CAR to immediately evaluate the compliance of local government units in the Cordillera on their compliance with the provisions of RA 9003. They should file the appropriate charges against those who have done nothing to improve the solid waste management in their areas of jurisdiction. We deplore some local officials who politicize the issue in order to gain mileage for the next election. Since the passage of the law, a number of elections have passed and the issue of solid waste management had time and again been used by politicians to discredit incumbent local chief executives.
We suggest that local officials should explore beyond their areas of jurisdiction for possible solutions to sustainable waste management. This is especially relevant for localities with not enough land areas for such purpose. They must now venture on working out the establishment of clustered solid waste disposal facilities, which is allowed by law, which should solve the problem for several jurisdictions. We call on the local officials and residents of possible places that can be clustered, to support this type of solid waste disposal intervention. The host local government will reap the fruits of the facility from the fees they can collect. At the same time, the local government partners in the venture are able to solve their waste disposal problems.
Local officials should act now and not wait for them to be meted the appropriate penalties or land in jail for not doing their job properly.
