By Christopher Lloyd Caliwan/PNA
MANILA — The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) has issued show cause orders against 108 local chief executives over their failure to craft a 10-year solid waste management plan as mandated by the law.
Interior Secretary Eduardo Año said Thursday the order is part of the government’s effort to enforce environmental laws similar to what they did in Manila Bay and Boracay.
“We don’t want another case of Manila Bay. These LGUs have, unfortunately, been accustomed to leniency. The Solid Waste Management Plan is a requirement of law, yet for many years they ignored it. Hence, we have no recourse but to issue show cause orders to them,” Año said in a statement.
The DILG chief said the local chief executives will be given 10 days from the receipt of the orders to explain why they should not be charged over failure of their LGUs to comply with such policy.
“If we are serious about protecting the environment, we really have to follow through with the implementation of these laws. Matagal nang nariyan ang mga batas ngunit kulang sa ngipin at implementasyon kaya patuloy tayong nagkakaron ng problema tulad ng (The laws have long been enacted but they lack implementation so we continue to have problems like what happened in) Boracay (and) Manila Bay. The law is the law and we will implement it,” he said.
Without naming the local chief executives, the DILG said of the 108 localities that will receive such order, 31 are from Lanao del Sur, 18 from Sulu, 11 from Maguindanao, nine each for Basilan and Tawi-Tawi, five from Mimaropa (Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon, Palawan), eight from Bicol region, one from Western Visayas, and four each from Cagayan Valley, Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon), Central Visayas, and Eastern Visayas.
For his part, DILG Assistant Secretary and spokesperson Jonathan Malaya said they would release the names of the LGU officials once they have received their reply and validated their explanations and if the agency found them to be negligent in the performance of their functions.
Section 16 of Republic Act No. 9003, also known as the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000, provides that all provinces, cities or municipalities, through their Local Solid Waste Management Boards, shall prepare their respective 10-Year Solid Waste Management Plans consistent with the National Solid Waste Management Framework and these are to be submitted to the National Solid Waste Management Commission.
