MALASIQUI—No, not here!

This was the stance taken by Mayor Armando Domantay as he ordered the closure of an open dumpsite, located inside the farm of Aristeo Queñano in Barangay Taluyan where a contractor used to dump waste from Baguio City.

Domantay said he will never allow any more garbage from Baguio City to be brought into the town and warned Queñano that he will be charged with civilly and criminally in violation of Republic Act 9003 or the Ecological and Solid Waste Management Act if he continues operating the dumpsite for hauler.

Queñano, for his part, vowed never to operate a dumpsite in his farm again.

Earlier, Engr. Ramon Pistocio, on orders from Environmental Management Bureau Director Joel Salvador, along with sanitary inspectors of Malasiqui visited the site and recommended its closure.

Concerned residents around the area sent text messages to the mayor to inform him about dump trucks coming in during the wee hours of the morning delivering garbage to the farm.

Domantay then ordered the Malasiqui police headed by Superintendent Policarpio Cayabyab to set up a checkpoint on the night of Nov. 30 that led to the interception of three dump trucks, two of which were loaded with garbage and another had just unloaded its cargo.

Six persons, three drivers and three helpers, were brought to the police station for investigation and their trucks were impounded.

But since the next day was a national holiday in celebration of Bonifacio Day, the police could not file a case against the truck drivers and helpers before the court, thus had to be released, including their trucks.

The mayor learned that the dump trucks usually arrive at Queñano’s farm between 2 to 3 in the morning passing through back door via the town’s Barangay Balite to escape detection from the police and local residents.

The dumping of 17 truckloads of garbage in Barangay Taluyan lasted for three days.

The mayor credited and thanked the residents for their vigilance.—Kathlyn May Morales (OJT)

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