Group urges immediate action on garbage dump

A non-government organization has urged the local government of San Pedro, Laguna to look into what it described as overdumping of garbage in the Barangay San Antonio landfill, saying this could lead to an overflow and contaminate the water in surrounding areas.

Pastor Ric Bello, chairman of Task Force Drag-Cop, said they have brought the problem to San Pedro Mayor Calixto Cataquiz but the local executive has yet to act on it.

Bello said the eight-hectare landfill in San Antonio has been catching wastes from Metro Manila for over 16 years now and it is about to overflow, specially since garbage increases dramatically this holiday season.

“Ngayong pasko at bagong taon, inaaasahan natin ang bulto ang makokolektang ng basura nito sa Metro Manila at baka madoble. Kung dati ay 100 hanggang 200 trak ng basura ang itinatapon, ngayon ay baka matriple ito. (This Christmas and New Year, we expect the big volume of wastes to be dumped at San Antonio landfill to double or even triple from the usual 100 to 200 truck loads.”

“Ngayon kung apaw na ang landfill sa San Pedro Laguna, saan natin itatapon ang mga basurang ito? (If we’re not going to address the problem, where will we throw our wastes?),” Bello lamented.

Because of this problem, Bello advised the residents of Metro Manila to minimize the dumping of garbage to alleviate the perennial problem of waste management, particularly in the town of San Pedro.