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THE
stinking garbage problem of Metro Manila rages on
despite the reopening of the Rodriguez (formerly
Montalban) dumpsite, argued the EcoWaste Coalition, a
waste and pollution watchdog.
“Hauling
Metro Manila’s garbage to Montalban or finding
alternative dumpsites in Bulacan, Laguna, Pampanga or
Tarlac will not solve the perennial garbage crisis. As
long as our national and local leaders remain fixated on
the obsolete ‘haul-and-dump’ approach, as long as the
barangays are not empowered to amply manage their
discards in a way that will not harm public health and
the environment, the metropolis will continue to remain
a victim to the garbage crisis year in, year out,” Romy
Hidalgo of the Eco Waste Coalition’s Task Force
Dumps/Landfills, said in a statement.
“We are
disappointed by the low rate of barangay compliance with
Republic Act 9003. A key reason for this is the failure
of local government units to provide the needed
directional and logistical support to ensure the success
of waste separation and recycling programs on the
ground. Regrettably, our politicians are still very much
fixated with finding dumpsites for waste disposal,” said
Ochie Tolentino of the Cavite Green Coalition.
RA 9003,
or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act, explained
the EcoWaste Coalition, provides for a community-driven
ecological approach for managing discards, mainly
through the front-end strategies of waste prevention,
minimization, segregation at source, reuse, recycling
and composting. The law requires the setting up of
Materials Recovery Facilities, also known as Ecology
Centers, in every barangay or cluster of barangays for
the purpose of ecologically managing their discards,
which would otherwise end up in our dying rivers or in
illegal dumps.
The
ecogroup scored the government’s lackluster
implementation of the country’s waste law as evidenced
by the continued illegal operation of over 1,000 garbage
dumps in the country and the prevalence of the
discredited “haul-and-dump” approach over the far more
superior ecological approach in managing discards. The
group also assailed the proliferation of repackaged
mixed-waste dumps called “sanitary” landfills, in
violation of RA 9003.
These
dirty mixed-waste disposal facilities, observed the
ecogroup, are curiously located near water systems,
watersheds and protected areas such as those in Pier 18,
Tondo, Manila; Payatas, Quezon City; Tanza, Navotas
City; and the controversial old and new dumps in
Rodriguez, Rizal. These dumps present grave threats both
to public health and the environment
According to the EcoWaste Coalition, mixed-wasted dumps
undermine individual, household and community efforts to
segregate and recycle discards. These dumps yield toxic
garbage juices called leachates that contaminate the
water supply, and release huge amounts of methane gas
that contribute to the worsening climate conditions.
On
October 13, members of the EcoWaste Coalition staged a
creative protest in front of the headquarters of the
Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR)
to draw attention to the lethargic performance by the
National Solid Waste Management Commission (NSWMC) of
its duty to oversee the implementation of RA 9003. DENR
Secretary Lito Atienza serves as concurrent chairperson
of the NSWMC.
The
green activists from the Eco Waste Coalition unfolded a
banner that says “dumping is no solution, go zero waste”
and acted out a scene showing “Dumpbuhala” (the garbage
monster) being punched by “Bio” (for biodegradable
discards) and “Non-Bio” (for nonbiodegradable discards)
representing community-driven ecological waste
solutions. “Bio” and “Non Bio” were supported by a
league of ecowarriors dressed in used boxes that bear
the words “reduce, reuse, repair, recycle.”
The
EcoWaste Coalition defines zero waste as “the synergy of
principles, cultures, beliefs, systems, methods and
technologies that aims to eliminate wasting and ensure
full and beneficial use of resources to restore
ecological balance and provide for the needs of all
creation.” |
