The sight of mixed solid waste improperly dumped in public places is a common sore found across the country. From sidewalks, outside public markets, and villages to even coastal areas, uncollected garbage is just as familiar as a stray dog, a mendicant or unsolvable traffic.
The question now is this: why is there still garbage everywhere, may it be in highly urbanized cities or quiet rural areas, despite the existence of Republic Act 9003, or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2020?
The Commission on Audit (COA) stipulated in their 2023 Performance Audit Report on the Solid Waste Management Program that only 29.25 percent or 478 of 1,634 LGUs in the country have access to sanitary landfills (SLF) despite the steady increase of generated solid waste.
SLFs are solid waste management facilities that utilize an engineered method of waste disposal, primarily for municipal solid waste. An “engineered” method of landfilling means that garbage is handled at a disposal facility that is designed, constructed and operated in a manner protective of public health and the environment.
This waste disposal method is allowed under RA 9003, which LGUs are duty-bound to follow. It uses HDPE liners to control leachate, which is the collected moisture formed by the breakdown of biological waste.
SLFs are considered as an environment-friendly disposal facilities because they are well-engineered and managed facilities for disposal of solid wastes. These are located, designed, operated and monitored to ensure compliance with environmental regulations. They are also designed to protect the environment from contaminants.
In his letter to Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Secretary Maria Antonia Yulo-Loyzaga, COA Performance Audit Office Director IV Michael Racelissaid they are conducting the performance audit in line with the agency’s “vision to become an enabling partner of the government in ensuring a better life for every Filipino, we conducted performance audits to help government agencies better perform their mandates and achieve program goals and objectives more economically, efficiently, and effectively.”
Among COA’s recommendations include the conduct of massive and continuing information; education and communication campaign specifically on RA 9003 to improve compliance; improve the operationalization of Materials Recovery Facility (MRF), including waste diversion and effective record management and the creation of a Municipal Environment and Natural Resources Office (MENROs) in certain LGUs.
The COA’s report that only 478 LGUs have access to SLF is considered alarming, since there are 1,634 LGUs in the entire country, therefore there are more LGUs that illegally dumped their solid wastes in open dumpsites considered as prohibited acts in RA 9003. This is a clear threat to the environment.
For instance, there is only one SLF in the province of Bohol and it is serving 10 municipalities. With one city and 47 municipalities, it’s not hard to imagine that the remaining 38 LGUs are disposing of their solid wastes either in open dumpsites or throwing them into bodies of water.
The same can be said In Leyte and Southern Leyte, which has a total of 62 LGUs, four of which are cities. They only have four SLFs in Tacloban, Ormoc, Maasin and Burauen. This means that 58 other LGUs, including Baybay, a component city in Leyte with 92 barangays, do not benefit from having government-sanctioned waste disposal amenities.
But RA 9003 mandates that LGUs should have their own SLF, or at least an MRF for clustered LGUs.
SLFs cost millions of Pesos, which is why many LGUs cannot afford to propose its creation due to budget constraints. Environmental Management Specialist II Carl Von Leen Curadaof Puerto Princesa City said that they spent more than P200 Million to build Phase 1 of its SLF in 2004.
Considered to be the country’s first LGU-operated SLF, Puerto Princesa spent almost the same amount for its expansion in 2022.
The Category II SLF in Calapan, in Oriental Mindoro costs only P2Million but with a smaller area. Only 15,000 square meters or 1.5 hectares have an existing Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC).
However, threats to the natural environment are present in some SLF sites. The one in Calapan is located near Bocayao SilonayRiver, which is within the SLF’s one-kilometer radius. Despite the fact that SLFs have plastic or clay liners, but there are possibilities that these liners have leaks. This might result in leachate, a liquid produced from solid wastes, to contaminate nearby water bodies such as rivers. This might damage ecosystems since leachate contains high levels of ammonia.
It has been more than two decades since RA 9003 was passed. Yet, its essence has yet to be fully implemented by our government, triggering many Filipinos to consider this law as a failure.
