Our 9 Other Dumpsites

SOMETHING SMELLS

Negros Daily Bulletin

By Alan S. Gensoli

When I was very young, our family spent Sundays at my maternal grandparents’ house in Bago City. The weekly drive was somewhat agonizing, made tolerable only by the thought of Lola’s cooking awaiting us. I remember the rough road where the highway is now. I remember cars had no air-conditioning then, so windows were constantly rolled up and down to catch a breath or shield our faces from dust. I also remember passing by a wide open dump somewhere in Tangub. And we would hold our breaths as our red Vauxhall passed by. Whatever happened to the open dump of my childhood Sundays? 

In the course of advocating Solid Waste Management (SWM), and studying our environmental law, administrative orders from the DENR, and executive orders from Malacañang, we have come to realize that the putting up of a sanitary landfill is contingent on so many things. One of these is the safe closure and rehabilitation of old open dumps. It is for this reason that in 2008 our local government applied to the DENR for an “Authority to Close” the open dump in Purok Acacia, Brgy. Felisa. Applying for this authority requires the local government to submit a “Safe Closure and Rehabilitation Plan” to the DENR. Consequently, on Sept. 17, 2008, DENR Reg. Dir. Bienvenido Lipayon wrote to Mayor Evelio Leonardia granting the latter the Authority to Close the open dump in Felisa. 

While we welcomed this development, we also began to wonder about the other dumpsites of Bacolod. I’m referring to the open garbage dumps that the city used in years past, all of which, by the way, were operated prior to the election of Mayor Leonardia to the mayorship in 2004. We wondered, shouldn’t these open dumps also be safely closed and rehabilitated before a sanitary landfill can be built? 

Unfortunately for Mayor Leonardia, the two critical deadlines in Republic Act 9003, or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000, happened in and around his incumbency. According to the law, on Feb. 16, 2004 all open dumps should be closed and replaced with controlled dumps. Then, on Feb. 16, 2006 all controlled dumps should be closed and replaced with sanitary landfills. By getting himself elected mayor in 2004, and again in 2007, Mayor Leonardia assumed the responsibility of fulfilling these deadlines. Meanwhile, the city had so many other open dumps in the past that were used during the mayorships of other politicians, but which must also be closed and rehabilitated now. Fortunately for those past mayors, open dumps were not yet illegal during their terms. But they are now, during Mayor Leonardia’s. Talk about being at the wrong place at the wrong time. But then again, imagine if Mayor Leonardia fixed all of our garbage problems today, including closing and rehabilitating all past and present open dumps? He would go down in history as the mayor who swept after other mayors, and I think Mayor Leonardia would be the better for it come 2010. As they say the Chinese say, problem is opportunity. 

How many other open dumps do we have, not counting the current open dump in Felisa? We have nine (10 including Felisa). According to the Ecological Solid Waste Management Plan of Bacolod City, authored by Dominic Schliebs (2003) with updates from Elizabeth Warnes (2006), the following are the nine other open dumps of Bacolod (dates in parentheses indicate period/s of use): 

Villa Esparanza in Brgy. Tangub (???-Dec. 31, 1997; Mar. 30, 2001); Purok Sigay in Brgy. Singcang-Airport (Jan. 1-Aug. 4, 2008; Sept. 1, 2003-Mar. 31, 2004); Maravilla Dumpsite in Purok Fortune Towne, Brgy. Estefania (Aug. 5-15, 1998); Dinsay Dumpsite in Purok Tonggoy, Brgy. Mandalagan (Aug. 15, 1998-Mar. 6, 1999; Apr. 1-10, 2001; Aug. 13-16, 2003; Oct. 1-Dec. 31, 2003); 

Javelosa/Cabansag Dumpsite in Purok Tonggoy, Brgy. Mandalagan (Mar. 7-July 31, 1999; Apr. 11-Aug. 19, 2001); Purok Sisi in Brgy. Singcang-Airport (Jan. 1-Mar. 29, 2001); Rabadilla Dumpsite in Purok Rabadilla, Brgy. Mandalagan (Aug. 20, 2002-Aug. 12, 2003); Anglo Dumpsite (Aug. 13-Sept. 20, 2003); and Lopez Dumpsite in Purok Tonggoy, Brgy. Mandalagan (Jan. 1, 2004-Jan.19, 2005). 

At the start of this year, the Bacolod Anti-Baha Alliance inquired with DENR Reg. Dir. Bienvenido Lipayon if the DENR had issued an Authority to Close for any or all of these nine other open dumps. In a letter dated 21 January 2009, Lipayon replied in the negative. Since the Authority to Close is issued only after a submission of the city’s Safe Closure and Rehabilitation Plan, then we urge Mayor Leonardia and the City Council to do so for these nine other open dumps. 

The reason why open dumps have to be closed and rehabilitated is to prevent seepage of garbage juice, or leachate, into the groundwater source. If you review the list of the nine other open dumps, you will notice that many subdivisions have since risen in these areas. These subdivisions have wells and water tanks, and they’re pumping water from groundwater source. Unless we can prove beyond reasonable doubt that the water pumped from these groundwater sources have not been, and will never be contaminated by garbage juice, we must close these nine other open dumps. 

And now, to DENR Sec. Atienza: In the Jan. 2, 2009 edition of the Philippine Star, Atienza claimed that there are still 896 open dumps in the country today. Does that figure include our nine other open dumps? I doubt it. The DENR has a record of having wrong records. For instance, if we did not raise stink about the Felisa dump, DENR thought that the open dump in Felisa was a controlled dump, because back in 2004 it gave the city a “Notice to Proceed” to operate an open dump. This proves, the DENR never monitored. 

Now comes the nine other open dumps. Since the list is included in the Ecological Solid Waste Management Plan of Bacolod City, a copy of which was surely furnished to the DENR, why hasn’t the DENR reminded the city to submit its Safe Closure and Rehabilitation Plan for these forgotten nine? Perhaps, because the DENR never even cared to read the plan. Or, that it’s not the job of the DENR to remind LGUs. Perhaps, it is this dilemma-whose job is it?-that the new Presidential Task Force for Climate Change, which Pres. Arroyo herself now chairs, must first address.*