La Trinidad becomes Baguio’s new basuraan

LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL

Roger Sinot

TUBA, Benguet -- “When it rains, it pours.” This was proven to be right. Baguio City’s garbage problem always and continuously bothers us residents of Asin Valley. When w watch on TV and read in newspapers that the garbage hauling and sorting was transferred from the Irisan school site down to Sitio Lamtang, Puguis of La Trinidad, it alerted everybody. Lamtang is situated along Naguillan road which serves as the boundary between Tuba and   La Trinidad.

This national highway passes through the Lamtang bridge that crosses the Irisan River below it. The irisan River flows down and connects with the Asin-Galiano River. Many years ago, Lamtang was popularly known nationwide for a cockpit arena that was visited by the rich and poor cockfighting fans. Now, it is starting to be known in the social media and the news as the new garbage pit for Baguio.

Even before the Irisan dumpsite was stopped from being used by Baguio, residents along Asin Road saw and smelled toxic black liquid flowing down from upstream. Sources of water were affected as the black liquid spread easily and quietly, contaminating water bodies that flowed to the Asin-Galiano River.

The stinking smell in the Sinko community along Asin Road brought bad image and when residents complained to the elders in the city, the answer they got was: “apay gamin ngaadakayudita?” According to the little box on my lap, the liquid toxic waste can cause death, injury or birth defects on creatures, not only through rivers and creeks but in the atmosphere.

For recollection, in the summer of 1998, the Asin Elementary School principal and grade school advisers wrote a petition letter to the Environmental Management and Protected Areas Section of the DENR regarding the contamination of the river by the liquid toxic waste.

They were worried that the students might have gotten their skin rashes and other skin diseases from swimming in the river. But the findings, according to the technical director, the late Frederic Villanueva, was that the Asin-Galiano River was classified as “Class B” meaning, the water in the river can be for primary contact recreation such as bathing, swimming, skin diving, for household use, etc. That was in 1998.

If the pollution remains unabated, we may see the making of a new Balili River, a heavily polluted river flowing from Baguio City to La Trinidad, Benguet. Although a Writ of Kalikasan that was issued to stop the Irisan dumpsite from being used by the city and to stop the pollution of creeks in the area, there is no guarantee that garbage movement from the Irisan dumpsite to Lamtang will not pollute our rivers.

Let’s hope not. As city residents flock to Asin during summer and students from several schools go to the river to swim before and after school, the BLISTT (Baguio, LaTrinidad, Itogon, Sablan, Tuba, Tublay) should help each other and consider the plight of Asin Valley.

As an offshoot to the 1998 EMPAS report, EMB Dir. Paquito Moreno conceptualized “SagipIlogAsin” where a planning-workshop was attended by LGUs Baguio, Tuba and Sablan, resort owners, piggery businessmen and other stakeholders. Today, it would be a good challenge to the new leaders of the BLISTT to come up with a solution to the garbage problem. As the saying goes, “what goes around comes around.” To other stakeholders, let us not stop cleaning our rivers and our backyards for our children’s children. And to those born in the rainy month of July like me, happy trails to you.