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Baguio mayor breaks silence on 'illegal dumpsite' issue


Baguio City Mayor Mauricio Domogan on Wednesday urged presidential adviser for environmental protection Neric Acosta to inspect the city's garbage collection system before claiming that city officials should be held liable for the illegal operation of the Irisan dumpsite. "With all due respect to adviser Neric Acosta, concern din namin na ipatupad ang Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000 (Republic Act 9003). Sana tingnan muna niya ang sitwasyon ng local government," Domogan told GMA New's Jam Sisante in an interview aired on GMA News TV's "News To Go" Wednesday morning. Due to heavy rains brought by Typhoon Mina, Irisan dumpsite's containment wall collapsed, killing five people, two of them children. A report on GMA News' Balitanghali on Tuesday quoted Acosta as saying that the operation of the Irisan dumpsite was illegal, and that Baguio City officials should be held accountable for the tragedy since they have not done anything to close the dumpsite. Republic Act 9003 prohibits the establishment or operation of open dumps. Article 6 Section 37 specifically states that "no open dumps shall be established and operated, nor any practice or disposal of solid waste by any person, including LGUs, which constitutes the use of open dumps for solid wastes, be allowed after the effectivity of this act." It likewise says that within three years of the effectivity of RA 9003, every local government unit shall convert its open dumps into controlled dumps, which are disposal sites wherein solid waste is deposited in accordance with the minimum prescribed standards of site operation. Under RA 9003, local government officials and other state officials who fail to enforce or comply with the act's rules and regulations shall be charged administratively. Meanwhile, the garbage clearing operation in the areas surrounding the Irisan dumpsite may take about one week, the Office of Civil Defense (OCD)-Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) said Tuesday. GMA News' Balitanghali last Tuesday quoted OCD-CAR director Olivia Luces as saying that it may take the local government a week remove 1,500 tons of trash from the Irisan Dump blocking a potion of the Asin Road. In a report by GMA's Jam Sisante on News To Go on Wednesday, Luces said her office is using the work-for food program to encourage residents to help in the clearing operation. — with a report by Kimberly Jane Tan/LBG, GMA News

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