𝐃𝐄𝐍𝐑, 𝐋𝐆𝐔 𝐎𝐅𝐅𝐈𝐂𝐈𝐀𝐋𝐒 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐄 𝐓𝐎 𝐅𝐈𝐍𝐃 𝐒𝐎𝐋𝐔𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒 𝐓𝐎 𝐂𝐄𝐁𝐔 𝐆𝐀𝐑𝐁𝐀𝐆𝐄 𝐂𝐑𝐈𝐒𝐈𝐒
Cebu Gov. Pamela Baricuatro met with Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Secretary Raphael Lotilla at the Provincial Capitol to address immediate and long-term solutions to the province’s garbage crisis.
The January 22 meeting followed the deadly incident at the sanitary landfill in Barangay Binaliw, Cebu City, which serves Cebu City and the neighboring cities of Lapu-Lapu and Mandaue.
Also present were Cebu City Mayor Nestor Archival, Talisay City Mayor Samsam Gullas, Minglanilla Mayor Rajiv Enad, and regional directors of DENR-attached agencies.
Gov. Baricuatro stressed the urgency of resolving the garbage problem, citing the health threats that uncollected waste poses to residents in the local government units.
Secretary Lotilla said the DENR is assisting Cebu City in identifying alternative landfill sites to accommodate its waste.
Lotilla also said the DENR plans to petition the Supreme Court to allow the temporary use of the closed Inayawan landfill as a transfer facility.
𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗲𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗰𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁
At the local level, officials discussed stricter enforcement of waste segregation to reduce the volume of garbage reaching landfills, with Mayor Archival committing to asking large businesses in the city to manage their own waste disposal.
Mayors Gullas and Enad, for their part, have committed to facilitating the passage of garbage trucks through their jurisdictions if private landfills in Aloguinsan or Toledo City are chosen as alternative sites. The Toledo facility, however, has not yet opened.
“We will continue to work with you all on the longer term and more sustainable solutions,” Lotilla said.
During the meeting, the DENR secretary also introduced newly appointed regional officials, led by Regional Executive Director Laudemir Salac, Environmental Management Bureau-7 Director John Edward Ang, and Mines and Geosciences Bureau-7 Director Al Emil G. Berador.
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