Bontoc folks deny polluting Chico River

BONTOC, Mountain Province - Residents and officials of this capital town denied allegations they were responsible for polluting the Chico River.

Bontoc town Mayor Pascual Sacgaca belied allegations by the Kalinga Anti-Pollution Action Group (KAPAG), which lodged a  petition for Writ of Kalikasan before the Court of Appeals against Bontoc officials, for allegedly causing pollution of the historic river that runs down to Kalinga and the Cagayan River.

Bontoc's dumpsite is located some 100 meters away from the actual river in Caluttit, Bontoc.

“They (petitioners) do not have scientific proof that Chico River is polluted,” the mayor said, adding that residents in Mt. Province still bathe and fish in the river.\

He also said they have yet to receive any complaint about people getting sick from bathing in or eating fish taken from the river.

Sacgaca said Chico River passes through Mt.Data in Bauko, and traverses Sabangan, Sagada before reaching Bontoc.  From Bontoc,  it straddles down to Tinglayan then Pasil in Kalinga.

Although acknowledging they violated the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act, specifically the provision banning the open dumping of garbage,  Sacgaca insists the garbage dump  has put in place mitigating measures  such as putting up screens to prevent polluting the river.

They were forced to reopen the dump,  the mayor added, because people were already throwing garbage directly into the river when the dump was temporarily closed.

“We are trying our best to solve our garbage problem,” he said.

Bontoc, according to the town mayor, has already identified an area for possible garbage disposal, but issues still have to be threshed out.

According to the DENR, only six towns in the Cordillera have their own sanitary landfills, while the other towns are finding it difficult to comply with the requirements of the law on solid waste.

In October, KAPAG filed a petition for Writ of Kalikasan against the local government of Bontoc and the provincial government of Mt. Province and other agencies tasked to implement RA 9003.  Petitioners alleged that the dump contributed to the pollution of the Chico River, and would harm the agriculture and tourism  industries of Kalinga and nearby Isabela.