‘Block Metro Manila dump trucks bound for Crow Valley’

CLARK FIELD, Pampanga — The commander of the 600th Air Force Wing stationed here has ordered his men to block garbage trucks from Metro Manila bound for Crow Valley in Capas, Tarlac, fearing that populated communities in Tarlac City and even as far as Pangasinan would be adversely affected by dumping of wastes in the area.

Col. Edgar Calvo, the Air Force unit’s commander, expressed surprise over reports that Executive Secretary Edgardo Angara has announced plans to dump garbage from Metro Manila in Crow Valley which is under Air Force jurisdiction.

"I will not allow that unless I receive orders from my (superiors) through the chain of command," he said. As of yesterday, he has not received any official information about Angara’s announcement.

Calvo took newsmen yesterday on a helicopter ride over Crow Valley to show that the area actually comprises a long stretch of the lahar-laden Sacobia River that runs from Mt. Pinatubo through Capas, Tarlac City and farther to Pangasinan.

"It used to be that the valley accommodated a narrow river, but since the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo, lahar has covered the valley and the river creates a path during heavy rains," Calvo said.

Local leaders in Tarlac and Pampanga have issued statements criticizing the planned dumping in Crow Valley amid reports that President Estrada has ordered Public Works and Highways Secretary Gregorio Vigilar to construct a route for the garbage trucks.

Maj. Allen Ballesteros said the existing dirt road could provide access from MacArthur Highway in Capas, but that this route’s farther portion sits on soft lahar deposits.

Calvo said some 1,500 families, mostly Aetas, live along the 40-kilometer dirt road. The families subsists by gathering and selling pumice stones and charcoal mixed with lahar deposits from Mt. Pinatubo.

Eloisa Narciso, president of the Metro Clark Advisory Council, said about 40 garbage trucks were sighted along the MacArthur Highway in Mabalacat town at dawn last Thursday. Police were escorting the trucks, she added.

Calvo, however, said no garbage has so far been dumped in Crow Valley. "For one thing, the valley is inaccessible, except in some areas which only four-wheel-drive vehicles can penetrate," he added.

Air Force M/Sgt. Fernando Clemente, who mans an outpost in Sitio Patal Bato along the Sacobia River, said the 600th Air Force Wing has ordered his detachment to be on alert for the entry of garbage trucks. But so far there has been no dumping, he added.

"I pity the communities downstream (which would be affected if garbage is dumped in the river)," Calvo said.

The Air Force — and sometimes, the Armed Forces and the police — use Crow Valley for war exercises.

Calvo and Ballesteros expressed doubts that those who proposed the use of Crow Valley as dumpsite for Metro Manila’s wastes were familiar with the area’s topography and conditions.

"The valley cannot be penetrated by heavy vehicles, since the lahar deposits covering the two-kilometer width of the valley remain soft like quicksand most of the year," Ballesteros said.

Besides, Ben Gonzales, chief of Tarlac’s provincial information office, said Crow Valley has a lot of tourism potentials because it serves as a gateway to Mt. Pinatubo.

Garbage dumping in the valley, he said, could also pose health risks to the residents of Capas, especially since O’Donnell River, which emanates from the valley, connects to the Tarlac River which, in turn, has links with the Agno River. — With Benjie Villa