Folks hit stench from huge piggeries, poultry farms

ANGELES CITY– Amid reports of schoolchildren getting sick from the stench from huge piggeries and poultry farms in neighboring Porac town, city residents, including grandmothers and their grandchildren, joined religious and environmental groups in a eight-kilometer march Wednesday to protest the air pollution that has been pestering them for 20 years.

San Fernando Auxiliary Bishop Virgilio Pablo David, addressing Porac officials during a rally in front of the Porac town hall, warned of a class suit not only against 15 piggery and poultry farm owners, but also against Porac Mayor Conradlito de la Cruz and other local officials should they fail to act on the problem.

The rallyists, numbering over a thousand, carried 12 small coffins that they later lined up in front of the Porac municipal hall to symbolize the health hazards posed by the air pollution on future generations.

The Pinoy Gumising Ka Movement, an umbrella organization representing environmental and other groups in Pampanga, reported the resurgence of illnesses among school children in several barangays in Angeles and Porac and blamed the piggeries for this.

“Students complain of dizziness, stomachache, and vomiting. This has always been the case for many, many years now,” PGKM chairman Ruperto Cruz said.

In a statement, the PGKM attributed the deaths of one Godofredo Agapito and his wife, who was not identified, to pollution-related asthma complications.

The PGKM demanded the resignation of Environmental Management Bureau director Lormelyn Claudio and her staff for their alleged failure to act on the pollution issue for the past several years.

Claudio arrived later at the rally and vowed to act on the residents’ complaints within two weeks. She, however, said most of the piggeries and poultry farms have already complied with anti-pollution requirements.

She reported though that six piggeries have been issued notices of violations of environmental laws and told to immediately comply with anti-pollution requirements.

Claudio said while the problem on the stench was “not in the mandate” of her office, her team conducted last Monday an “ammonia and hydrogen sulfide test” at the piggeries and poultry farms to determine if the stench emanating from them was within government standards.

“It’s a test usually done only for heavy industries, but we did it here,” Claudio said.

If the test reveals adverse results, she said the issue would be brought to the attention of Porac officials for their action.