LETTER

La Trinidad folks hit chicken dung dealers

Through the Northern Philippine Times, allow us to again appeal to all public officials concerned to please face the chicken dung problem reasonably head-on and not to dilly-dally as the physical and mental well being of Barangay Shilan in La Trinidad, Benguet, the surrounding communities and people who commute everyday along the Halsema are threatened.

We thank you very much for helping ventilate the problem of our community. We know you also feel how it is to live and breathe air contaminated with a mixture of obnoxious chicken dung and dust. Chicken dung threatens wellbeing of Shilan residents, commuters

We, residents of Barangay Shilan and commuters of the Baguio-Acop route call on La Trinidad Mayor Artemio Galwan, Vice Mayor Sammy Esguerra, the Sanggunian Bayan, health and environment officials, chief of police and all concerned to remove or relocate the chicken dung dealers away from the residential and school areas and other public places if they can not stop the sale of the same.

The sale of chicken dung in open trucks has brought inconvenience and irritation to the public. This has caused headaches, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, other respiratory discomforts and sleeplessness as the foul sharp odor of chicken dung hangs in the air in cold nights. It seems the unlicensed business activity is tolerated by the some officials supposedly elected to protect the rights of their people for reasons known only to them.

Aside from becoming the breeding place of disease-carrying flies that infect food establishments, Shilan, particularly the five parking areas occupied by the chicken dung dealers who are operating with no business permits, has become very dusty that we are afraid of contracting severe chronic diseases such as TB, diarrhea and even illness that may lead to cancer.

Yes, the Sanggunian Bayan of La Trinidad has passed Resolution No. 194-2005 which allowed the temporary sale of chicken dung in non-residential areas, particularly at the western side of the Halsema. However, this has been clearly violated with the open sale of chicken dung at a former mechanical shop in front of Tacdian Elementary School , the barangay hall, a clinic, and the Mt. Trail Chicken Dung that operates inside a populated housing and business zone.

We understand the chicken dung dealers’ desire to earn a living, legitimately or not, but that does not give them the freedom to pollute the air that others breathe. We hold our officials responsible for bringing back clean air to Shilan and its surroundings, as we dispel from the public mind that money has been changing hands around the chicken dung problem. Thank you and God Bless all.

Shilan residents, businessmen and Baguio-Acop-Atok-Halsema commuters