Eight firms get ‘Lason’ awards

Eight companies were cited as this year’s top water polluters by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and an alliance of environmental groups.

They were each given a mock award, the National Lason sa Ilog Awards (National River Poisoning Awards), for polluting the country’s major rivers.

Formerly given only to companies that had polluted the Pasig River, award organizers including Earth
Day Network Philippines (EDNP) have expanded the annual mock awards to include firms polluting other major rivers in the country.

"There are already many rivers which are dying and they (the awardees) contributed a lot to it. They are the gross polluters of our rivers," said Myrna Jimenez, executive director of EDNP.

There are 18 major bodies of water in the country that are already considered dead, including the rivers of Parañaque, San Juan, Marilao, Meycauayan and Sta. Maria in Bulacan; Calapan in Oriental Mindoro; and Guadalupe in Cebu, said Jimenez.

This year’s awards were given to Barrio Fiesta Restaurant in Mandaluyong City; Robina Farms II in Antipolo City, Rizal; Euro Swiss Food Inc., a meat processing plant in Makati City; Macro Funders Development Corp. in Mandaluyong City; IPI Distillery Inc. in Central Manapla, Negros Oriental; Julu Cornstarch Corp. in Toril, Davao City; Albay Agro-Industrial Development Corp., an abaca pulp sheets-manufacturer located in Malinao, Albay; and Goldilocks Steam Laundry in Valenzuela City.

They were cited for allegedly failing to install environment protection systems as well as discharging waste directly to the river.

The names of the "awardees" were disclosed during a parade at the Makati River Park celebrating World Earth Day last Friday.