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Folks picket Baguio garbage site; gov’t to dump trash no more
By Dexter See and Mike Guimbatan Jr,

BAGUIO CITY -- City officials here were the first to blink in the stalemate over the garbage dumping and gave in to the demand of thousands of residents who braved heavy rains as they held for four straight days a human barricade at the Irisan open dumpsite here to prevent trucks from dumping the city’s trash at the area.

Mayor Reinaldo A. Bautista Jr. said the city government will no longer dump garbage at the five-hectare Irisan dumpsite to put an end to the four-day impasse between City Hall and residents of various barangays surrounding the dumpsite, including those in nearby Tuba, Benguet.

Despite the huge expenditure to be shelled out by the city government, Bautista said the city’s trucks will temporarily dump garbage at a government property in Barangay Irisan here.

Later, a private hauler will bring the city’s garbage to a sanitary landfill in Pampanga, he said.

The city government has been eying sanitary landfills in nearby La Trinidad, Benguet, and San Fernando City, La Union as a temporary dumping area for the garbage collected daily in the 128 barangays of the city.

But La Trinidad and San Fernando have denied the request of the city because their dumps have limited capacities.

Since July 13, thousands of residents of Irisan, and Asin and Tadiangan, both in Tuba, Benguet, joined forces and set up a human barricade in front of the Irisan dumpsite, preventing dozens of trucks from dumping the collected garbage at the facility.

The residents said the continuous dumping of waste at the overloaded dump site poses a serious threat to families living in the area since a tragedy, similar to the Payatas garbage avalanche, could happen if the retaining wall of the dumpsite collapses.

In the event of such disaster, thousands of lives would be lost as some 200 houses are located just below the dumpsite.

It would also pollute rivers and farms in Tadiangan and Asin, Tuba, Benguet.

Bautista recognized the validity of the argument of the protesters and adapted the expensive option of dumping the garbage at a sanitary landfill in Pampanga.

He said if no immediate action is taken, a garbage crisis would hit the city, which might ruin its image as one of the cleanest and greenest highly urbanized cities in the country.

Baguio City has not yet complied with the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act, which requires all local government units in the country to stop the operation of open dumpsites and set up controlled dump facilities or sanitary landfills to ensure a sound environment.

The protesters maintained the human barricade despite heavy rains as they asked the mayor to visit the dumpsite.

They performed a traditional ritual of offering a burnt chicken to the gods who appeared to be on their side as manifested by the good form of the chicken bile.

A tuba councilor said legally, the residents of the affected villages and downstream communities have all the right to protest because under the law, the Irisan dumpsite should have been closed in January 2008.

The garbage trucks were on standby while city officials tried to convince the picketers to allow the trucks to dispose their cargo.

The mayor mulled on a plan to use a temporary dumping area at the City Camp lagoon, but the idea was met with strong opposition by the residents.

Councilor Erdolfo Balajadia appealed over the radio for cooperation as he announced that the council is in the process of sealing an agreement for the use of a sanitary landfill in nearby Itogon.