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ISHOP, ENVIRONMENTALISTS DECRY
State of environmental disaster in Pampanga
State of environmental disaster in Pampanga
By Ding Cervantes
Mar 12, 2010
ANGELES CITY – Backed by environmentalists, Bishop Virgilio Pablo David, who had earlier put curse on polluters of the Sapang Balen creek in this city, said Pampanga is now in “a state of environmental disaster” amid reports that at least 19 illegal open dumpsites have continued to take in 5,179 metric tons of garbage per day from all over the province.
“We are in a state of environmental disaster,” David said in a press conference at the Holy Rosary Parish here on Wednesday, even as he estimated that the volume of Pampanga’s wastes might have already reached 12,000 metric tons per day this year.
Sonny Dobles, head of the environmental program of the Pinoy Gumising Ka Movement (PGKM) based here, noted rising cases of “blue baby syndrome” among babies being born in Barangay Sta. Cruz here. He attributed this to the heavy pollution of the Sapang Balen, a local creek that flows towards the City of San Fernando and Mexico, Pampanga.
Citing statistics from environmentalists, David noted a 300 percent increase in the volume of garbage being churned out in Pampanga, from 1,696 tons in 2008 to 5,179 tons per day in 2009.
David, who initiated the drive to clean up a local creek under his Sagip Sapang Balen project, lamented that Republic Act 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000 has been almost totally ignored in Pampanga. The law bans open dumpsites staring 2007.
He noted that while Central Luzon has only one acceptable sanitary landfill operated by the Metro Clark Waste Management Corp. (MCWMC) in Barangay Kalangitan in Capas, Tarlac, most of towns in Pampanga have no contract with the firm.
Dobles said only Lubao and Apalit towns transport their wastes to the landfill which uses German technology in treating wastes.
Last year, the MCWMC refused to take in garbage from Angeles after the city failed to pay its arrears worth some P65 million. The city government, led by Mayor Francis Nepomuceno, has been “under fire” for this as it pursued plans to construct an P862-million sports complex in Barangay Mining.
Folk in Angeles have resorted to various ways to rid themselves of garbage, including hiring the services of people using even tricycles to dispose of their wastes which also eventually end up on various open dumpsites.
David questioned the priorities of the city government, but declined to “point accusing fingers at anyone” over the mounting garbage problem in Angeles and the rest of Pampanga.
He, however, urged Pampanga folk to resort to “pressure politics” to persuade officials running in the May elections to commit to solve the garbage woes in Pampanga.
David noted that in Angeles, heavy polluters of Sapang Balen include owners of a slaughterhouse and a hotdog factory.
“How could they get the necessary permits from the government?” he asked
David recalled that he had complained to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) about the pollution of Sapang Balen, but he was told that the local DENR office was understaffed.
Meanwhile, Dobles cited reports that the Angeles City government used to pay its garbage hauler P1,200 for every ton of garbage it used to transport to MCWMC. The landfill itself charges only P800 per ton as “tipping fee.”
“I think the cost of the hauling fee being charged by a private contractor partially ballooned the city’s debt to the landfill company because it seems prohibitive, compared to the P1,500 per ton that Baguio City pays its hauler of wastes to the same landfill,” he noted.
On the other hand, David noted that an open dumpsite in Sasmuan town could affect fishpond products being sold in local markets.
Dobles cited studies indicating that chemical substances burned at the 19 still operational dumpsites in Pampanga could give rise to more cases of cancer among local folk.
The biggest open dumpsite in Pampanga was reported in Mabalacat near the Sacobia river.
“We are in a state of environmental disaster,” David said in a press conference at the Holy Rosary Parish here on Wednesday, even as he estimated that the volume of Pampanga’s wastes might have already reached 12,000 metric tons per day this year.
Sonny Dobles, head of the environmental program of the Pinoy Gumising Ka Movement (PGKM) based here, noted rising cases of “blue baby syndrome” among babies being born in Barangay Sta. Cruz here. He attributed this to the heavy pollution of the Sapang Balen, a local creek that flows towards the City of San Fernando and Mexico, Pampanga.
Citing statistics from environmentalists, David noted a 300 percent increase in the volume of garbage being churned out in Pampanga, from 1,696 tons in 2008 to 5,179 tons per day in 2009.
David, who initiated the drive to clean up a local creek under his Sagip Sapang Balen project, lamented that Republic Act 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000 has been almost totally ignored in Pampanga. The law bans open dumpsites staring 2007.
He noted that while Central Luzon has only one acceptable sanitary landfill operated by the Metro Clark Waste Management Corp. (MCWMC) in Barangay Kalangitan in Capas, Tarlac, most of towns in Pampanga have no contract with the firm.
Dobles said only Lubao and Apalit towns transport their wastes to the landfill which uses German technology in treating wastes.
Last year, the MCWMC refused to take in garbage from Angeles after the city failed to pay its arrears worth some P65 million. The city government, led by Mayor Francis Nepomuceno, has been “under fire” for this as it pursued plans to construct an P862-million sports complex in Barangay Mining.
Folk in Angeles have resorted to various ways to rid themselves of garbage, including hiring the services of people using even tricycles to dispose of their wastes which also eventually end up on various open dumpsites.
David questioned the priorities of the city government, but declined to “point accusing fingers at anyone” over the mounting garbage problem in Angeles and the rest of Pampanga.
He, however, urged Pampanga folk to resort to “pressure politics” to persuade officials running in the May elections to commit to solve the garbage woes in Pampanga.
David noted that in Angeles, heavy polluters of Sapang Balen include owners of a slaughterhouse and a hotdog factory.
“How could they get the necessary permits from the government?” he asked
David recalled that he had complained to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) about the pollution of Sapang Balen, but he was told that the local DENR office was understaffed.
Meanwhile, Dobles cited reports that the Angeles City government used to pay its garbage hauler P1,200 for every ton of garbage it used to transport to MCWMC. The landfill itself charges only P800 per ton as “tipping fee.”
“I think the cost of the hauling fee being charged by a private contractor partially ballooned the city’s debt to the landfill company because it seems prohibitive, compared to the P1,500 per ton that Baguio City pays its hauler of wastes to the same landfill,” he noted.
On the other hand, David noted that an open dumpsite in Sasmuan town could affect fishpond products being sold in local markets.
Dobles cited studies indicating that chemical substances burned at the 19 still operational dumpsites in Pampanga could give rise to more cases of cancer among local folk.
The biggest open dumpsite in Pampanga was reported in Mabalacat near the Sacobia river.
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