[In the news] Baguio City officials face raps for operating Irisan dump – www.manilatimes.net

Baguio City officials face raps for operating Irisan dump LARRY MADARANG AND JAIME PILAPIL BAGUIO City officials should be charged criminally and administratively for allowing the Irisan open dump to operate, a senator and a former lawmaker cited over the weekend. The collapse of the Irisan dump found in the outskirts of the summer capital…

Human Rights Online Philippines

September 6, 2011

1–2 minutes

Baguio, Baguio City, Bukidnon, Irisan, Landfill, Loren Legarda, Nereus Acosta, Payatas

Baguio City officials face raps for operating Irisan dump
LARRY MADARANG AND JAIME PILAPIL

BAGUIO City officials should be charged criminally and administratively for allowing the Irisan open dump to operate, a senator and a former lawmaker cited over the weekend.

The collapse of the Irisan dump found in the outskirts of the summer capital during the onslaught of Typhoon Mina killed three people and raised concerns over the persistence of the local government in maintaining an open dumpsite.

Former Rep. Nereus Acosta of Bukidnon, for one, said operating open dumpsites such as Irisan are prohibited under Republic Act (ra) 9003, or the Solid Waste Management Act, a law which he authored during his stint as a lawmaker.

“I authored RA 9003 or the Solid Waste Management Act, which expressly bans these kinds of open dumpsites, especially in places considered geo-hazards, or on steep mountainsides, etc,” he noted.

Sen. Loren Legarda, chairman of the Senate Committee on Climate Change, meanwhile, said, “There is a clear violation of the Solid Waste Management Act, RA 9003. Open and controlled dumpsites should have been closed and replaced with sanitary landfills five years after the law’s passage.”

“This incident reminds us of the Payatas tragedy, which revealed that the way we manage our garbage not only impacts on our environment and health but can also endanger lives,” Legarda said.

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