By Estanislao Albano, Jr.
The court battle
On October 3, 2012, the KAPAG filed with Court of Appeals (CA) a petition for Writ of Kalikasan and Temporary Environmental Protection Order (TEPO) against Bontoc LGU, Mt. Province LGU, Environment Management Bureau (EMB) and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) the last two entities being agencies mandated to enforce environmental laws in connection with the LGU’s continued dumping of its solid waste on the Chico River. The KAPAG alleged that the garbage eventually end in the river and carried downstream which violates the constitutional right of people living downstream for balanced and healthful ecology and that if it’s not stopped, could turn the river into a “giant sewer.”
One evidence submitted by the KAPAG is a video footage showing an official LGU garbage dump truck in the act of disposing unsegragated garbage into ODS.
“The environmental damage caused by the Municipal Government of Bontoc is of such magnitude that it prejudices the life, health, property, and livelihood of inhabitants of Mountain Province, and the inhabitants of the downstream Provinces of Kalinga, Cagayan, and Isabela,” the petition said. The petitioners said that if not stopped, the indiscriminate dumping of garbage will affect agriculture in Kalinga and the Mallig Plains in Isabela as well as tourism in Kalinga because the Chico River is a favorite white water rafting site. The group further alleged that the maintenance of the Caluttit dump site makes the Bontoc LGU liable for violation of the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act and the Clean Water Act.
The Fourth Division of the CA proposed a compromise settlement of the case mandating the LGUs of Bontoc and Mt. Province six months to close and rehabilitate the Caluttit ODS. The two parties met in Bontoc on February 1,2013 with Assistant Solicitor General Herman Cimafranca as mediator. The five hours of sometimes tense was wasted as neither side budged from their positions.
The talks started stormily when Bontoc Vice Mayor William Aspilan revealed that the plan of the municipality was to continue using the ODS for two more years while developing their sanitary landfill (SLF) in a lot which the town had recently bought and KAPAG Chairman Aoas and lawyer Comafay responded that the continuing usage of the ODS was non-negotiable.
Thenceforth the negotiations never left the issues of whether or not to allow further usage of the ODS and if allowed, for how long with the respondents insisting that immediate closure is not feasible and the KAPAG sticking to its demand contained in its Petition for Writ of Kalikasan that the ODS must not only be stopped immediately but that the garbage deposited there removed.
Bontoc Mayor Pascual Sacgaca asked for time because while the town has already bought a lot as an alternative dumping area, the development of the SFL takes time and that if the KAPAG is rushing and the LGU stops using the ODS, there is the risk of residents of the town disposing their garbage anywhere like what happened when the LGU had earlier closed the ODS for two weeks. This prompted the KAPAG representatives to propose that instead of using the ODS and since the officials of the town claim that residents are already practicing segregation at source (SAS), they should just establish a temporary residual containment area (TRCA) away from the Chico River where the residual waste of the town will be stored pending the development of the interim residual containment area (IRCA) in the lot bought by the LGU.
At around 3 PM and after observing the deterioration in the talks, Cimafranca called for a recess but when the negotiations resumed, things even got worse as the legal counsels of the Bontoc and Mt. Province LGUs rejected the proposed compromise of three months saying that one year is more realistic. The KAPAG delegation then said that there was no point in further talks and asked for adjournment. **
