Continue or be charged in court

By Leonardo Micua

CLEARLY backed against the wall, between the fast deteriorating condition of the dumpsite and a court suit for violation of Republic Act 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act now dangling over its head, methinks the Dagupan City government has no other option but to support the Waste-to-Worth project negotiated at great lengths by former Mayor Belen Fernandez during her term.

Instead of bringing Dagupan’s solid wastes to Subic or Capas, Tarlac a move which was reportedly rejected by the new city auditor because of the huge cash it will entail, the city would be better off settling for the safer and no-cost to the city ‘Waste-to-Worth’ project  seen by many as the ultimate and most efficient solution to address the more than 60-year old garbage problem of the city.

Anyway, based on the report of Julia Courts Boughton, CEO of Sure Global Philippines, Inc., the machine for the Waste-to-Worth project for Dagupan, has already been built and is ready to be loaded on a boat that will bring it to the Philippines.

More than that, the required documents such as the Environmental    Compliance Certificate (ECC) for the project, including the imprimatur from Malacanang for the use of the 28,062- square meter area covered by Proclamation 98 in Bonuan as the site of the project have already been accomplished.    

Methinks that given all these alone, Dagupan should not unilaterally withdraw from  the joint venture agreement it signed in 2016 with Sure Global, the proponent of the project that is investing at least 15 million U.S. dollars if just simply for political reason. If it does, the city officials should be ready to be charged in court for various violations, not to mention damages that will be filed by Sure Global Phils.    

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As an aside, Ms. Boughton showed to the Sangguniang Panglunsod the latest edition of the National Geographic that contained an article about Dagupan, which it says, will soon be the first small city in the world to have a Waste-to-Worth project that will convert plastic wastes into diesel fuel for motorboats, jeepneys, and machinery; and food wastes into compressed gas for converted motorized tricycles…     

It means, said Councilor Jose Netu Tamayo, author of a series of ordinances and resolutions in the past SP presided by then Vice Mayor Brian Lim, that supported the Waste-to-Worth technology, that the eyes of the world are now on Dagupan with this project.  

The project is definitely the first in the Philippines and in Southeast Asia although there are already 22 of this kind all over the world, according to Ms. Boughton. The closest facility to us is in Seoul, South Korea, which is already operating for about 10 years now.

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Mayor Brian Lim cannot ignore the expectation of the world to see this project piloted in his city. Neither will he allow himself to be embarrassed by being included in the next batch of LGU executives to be sued before the Ombudsman for patent violation of RA 9003. (NOTE: It is this same project that saved Mayor Fernandez last year from being included in the first batch of 100 LGU executives hailed before the Ombudsman. The National Solid Waste Management Commission (NSWMC) saw that she was doggedly working for the project to solve the garbage problem in her city).

If my memory serves me right, it was with Procter and Gamble Company that she first negotiated for this project, with the support of world leaders she had the privilege to meet  in the World  Ocean Conservancy Summit she attended in Chile, where she passionately pleaded for world’s help in solving the garbage crisis in her city.

As NSWMC Commissioner Crispian Lao warned the city council on Nov12, he won’t be surprised if Dagupan will be in the list of the new batch of LGUs to be slapped with court suit for violation of RA 9003, knowing fully well the present condition of the dumpsite in Bonuan.     

Note that a sanitary landfill is no longer an option at this stage, neither can it afford to negotiate for a land deal like the one negotiated by the mayor’s late father in 2004 in Barangay Awai, San Jacinto. The city lost P16 million after DAR declared the sale null and void because the land was tenanted and covered by the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform.

The P16 million has not yet been returned to the city.

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