DAGUPAN City Mayor Brian Lim was slapped anew with another criminal and administrative cases filed last May 16 before the Office of the Ombudsman for Luzon for their failed management of solid wastes in Dagupan.

The new cases against Lim and Jessie Doria, head of the Task Force on River and Coastal Protection  Management as co-respondent, were filed by a “Concerned Resident  of Dagupan City, Pangasinan,”  represented by Marlon Velasco Aquino, a resident of Barangay Malued,

Aquino already filed cases against Lim and three department heads of the city government last April 27, 2022  for the repeated closure of city streets for the purpose of holding baratillo since year 2020 without any ordinance passed by the Sangguniang Panlungsod.

Lim and Doria were charged administratively for Grave Misconduct Prejudicial to the Best Interest of Service, under Rule  X of CSC Resolution No. 1101502, and criminally for violation of Section 48, paragraphs (1), (3), (4), (8) and (16) of Republic Act 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act.

Lim was impleaded as City Mayor, being the local chief executive and “Chief Implementer  and Enforcer” of Solid Waste Management as provided in Section 10 of RA 9003.

Doria was impleaded as the head of Task Force in River and Coastal Protection Management, responsible for the protection of coastal areas from possible damage brought about by man-made activities among others.

Attached to the nine-page complaint is the 37-page Commission on Audit Report on the City of Dagupan for the year ending  December 31, 20220, prepared by Michael Basa, State Auditor IV, and audit team leader  that cited the city’s failure to use and maintain the basic facilities and equipment provided by the city government and contracted instead a company to haul the “mountains of garbage in the controlled dumpsite.”

The complainant cited his observation during his own ocular inspection, among these the dumping of  all types of solid wastes (plastics, papers, bottles and mixtures of biodegradable and non-biodegradable materials) in the open dump site, and the presence of leachate of garbage along the shoreline of Lingayen Gulf; and foul odor from the open dumpsite.

Aquino alleged that Lim, and Doria blatantly disregarded laws protecting the environment and their constituents from potential hazard to human health and the COA audit manifested their “negligence and impassivity.”

Further, Aquino said Lim and Doria did not cause the immediate closure of the city’s open dumpsite as ordered by the national government especially because the open dumpsite is by the coastal communities of the Lingayen Gulf.

According to Aquino, both respondents are criminally liable because they “blatantly disregarded the environmental law” and failed to comply with the provisions of RA No. 9003, putting the health of their constituents and the source of living of fishermen in the area at risk.

City Hall again refused to comment on the latest cases because it has not received a copy of the complaint. (Leonardo Micua)

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