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Ombudsman Investigates Local Officials for Illegal Dump Sites


Photo Courtesy of Manila Bulletin
Press Release from the Office of the Ombudsman
http://www.ombudsman.gov.ph/index.php?home=1&pressId=Nzg1
The Office of the Ombudsman is set to investigate close to
600 local government executives in the 13 administrative regions for violations
of Republic Act No. 9003 (Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000). 

In
50 complaints filed by Romeo Hidalgo
of the EcoWaste Coalition, it was reported that “field investigations reveal
that the officials committed violations of RA 9003 and its implementing rules
and regulations.”

According
to the complainant, mayors, vice-mayors and Sanggunian members have “the mandate
to establish policies and having control over the funds of the city” and that
“they conspired in committing the violations of R.A. No. 9003 within their
jurisdiction.”


Under
R.A. No. 9003, “no open dump sites shall be established and operated, nor any
practice or disposal of solid waste by any person, including LGUs, which
constitutes the use of open dumps for solid wastes, be allowed after the
effectivity of this Act, every LGU shall convert its open dumps to controlled
dumps.”

It
will be recalled that in 2013, the Environmental Ombudsman program, in
collaboration with the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) of the Department
of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), launched a three-year nationwide
campaign to increase awareness of,  and promote voluntary compliance with
R.A. No. 9003.

Under
this program, the local government units were directed to conduct their
respective self-assessment as to their compliance status and to voluntarily
implement corrective actions.  Two years after implementation, tracer
results show that R.A. No. 9003 remains to be the least prioritized local
government program. 

The
DENR-EMB has identified and submitted the list of 350 LGUs with recurring and
blatant violations of open dump sites to the Ombudsman. 

Phase
two of the project aims to improve compliance through the submission by the
LGUs of their respective Priority Corrective Action Plan (PCAP) to be
implemented within a six-month period and/or the submission of a 10-year Solid
Waste Management Plan.

Under
its mandate, the Environmental Ombudsman Team headed by Deputy Ombudsman for
Luzon Gerard Mosquera, shall handle complaints filed against any public
official, employee, office or agency mandated to protect the environment and
conserve natural resources where the act complained of appears to be illegal,
unjust, improper or inefficient. 

The Team also acts on any malfeasance, misfeasance or nonfeasance committed by
any public officer or employee, including conspiring private individuals, if
said act or omission involves any violation of environmental laws or concerns
or relates to environmental protection or conservation.###