SOMETHING SMELLS
Negros Daily Bulletin
By Alan S. Gensoli
When National Solid Waste Management Commission (NSWMC) Executive Director Gerardo Calderon visited Bacolod back in November, he unwittingly admitted to media that there are 900 LGUs in the country that have not yet complied with R.A. 9003, or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000. This is ironic and self-incriminating because the NSWMC was created by R.A. 9003 precisely to implement R.A. 9003. So, why the unruly 900? Open mouth, insert foot. Among the legislated responsibilities of the NSWMC are to approve Solid Waste Management (SWM) plans of LGUs, to monitor and report work progress on these plans, and to coordinate with local SWM boards.
It doesn’t take a genius to read the mind of a seasoned traditional politician such as Calderon, who happens to be a former mayor, I am told, and who happened to choose SWM for his pet project during his LGU days, I am furthermore told. Now, it seems that pet project has turned into a pet peeve. But why? Political courtesy?
Obviously, Calderon’s sloppy confession about the 900 erring LGUs was meant to silence our objection to our city’s non-compliance, as if to say, it’s okay if Bacolod is non-compliant because there are 900 of us, anyway. A Happy New Year to you, too, Mr. Calderon, but shame, shame, shame for thinking us so dumb as to fall for your lame and desperate excuse. Instead, I am wont to ask now, how come there are 900 non-compliant LGUs when this law was passed eight years ago?
Somebody was surely sleeping on the job. And it might not have been Calderon, since he is relatively new to the post. So, who was sleeping on the job? Calderon’s boss? DENR Sec. Atienza? By his confession, Calderon seems to insinuate so. Again, open wide, insert foot.
Let me wager this analogy: When 25 students in a class of 50 get a failing grade at the end of the school year, we do not think that all 25 students are dumb. Rather, we suspect the competence of the teacher. In the same manner, when 900 LGUs are caught delinquent, we must question the competence of the person charged to watch over them. Apparently, Exec. Dir. Calderon does not have the political will to execute the duties of his office. On Sept. 12, 2008, the Bacolod LGU received a Notice of Non-Compliance from the NSWMC signed by Calderon’s predecessor, Atty. Zoilo Andin, Jr. The NSWMC notice cautioned Mayor Leonardia to immediately undertake measures to address the city’s continued non-compliance with the law, further saying that failure to heed the warning could result in administrative prosecution before the DILG or criminal action to impose the penalties provided for by R.A. 9003.
Great bark, but where’s the bite? Calderon muzzled Andin, it would seem. Just two months later, the new NSWMC Exec. Dir. Calderon swings to town and suggests that it’s okay, because there are 900 LGUs like Bacolod, anyway. Calderon’s was a grave mistake. What could have been a progressive move initiated by Exec. Dir. Andin was aborted by Exec. Dir. Calderon. For a government official to condone non-compliance with the law smacks of legislative sabotage.
The NSWMC and its mother agency, the DENR, have shown chronic impotence in the implementation of R.A. 9003. Such weakness of intelligence and political will goes way back in time, to Dec. 29, 2004, when the DENR issued the Bacolod LGU a Notice to Proceed with the construction of a controlled dumpsite in Brgy. Felisa. Eight days earlier, on Dec. 21, 2004, the Mines & Geosciences Bureau (MGB), a downline agency of the DENR, issued a report that testified that the soil in Felisa is permeable and the groundwater level is shallow, making the site not conducive to a garbage dump, controlled or otherwise.
That the garbage dump in Felisa turned out to be an open dump, and not a controlled dump as authorized by the DENR, makes the situation worse.
The report of the MGB commented though, that should Bacolod decide on the Felisa site anyway, certain mitigating measures must be put in place, among which are the construction of the dumpsite farther from the active stream (Cabura Creek), the construction of a water collection pond, treatment of collected water, the installation of natural clay liners, and limiting excavation so groundwater level is not reached. And whose job is it to monitor and report if these mitigating measures are put in place? According to the law, the NSWMC’s. That these mitigating measures were not adhered to, whose fault is that now?
Sure, the 900 erring LGUs cannot be saved blameless, but 900 is such a huge number that one is sadly tempted to conclude that non-compliance must be a way of life among many LGUs. All the reason for the DENR and NSWMC to be stricter in monitoring. If 900 LGUs in the country failed to comply with R.A. 9003, it is because they can all get away with non-compliance. It is because the DENR and the NSWMC failed to exercise political will in implementing the law.
Please watch out for my next column on Feb. 9. I will write about Sec. Atienza then. After that, I will write about DENR Exec. Reg. Dir. Lormelyn Claudio. After that, I will write about DENR Reg. Dir. Bienvenido Lipayon.*
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