Governors urge Congress: Allow use of incinerators

GENERAL SANTOS CITY — The country’s 78 provincial governors urged Congress yesterday to allow the use of incinerators in limited areas to help ease the worsening garbage crisis besetting Metro Manila and other urban areas.

South Cotabato Gov. Hilario de Pedro III, newly installed president of the League of Provinces of the Philippines (LPP), said that only the immediate use of incinerators can abate, at least temporarily, the present garbage problem.

He said such a move may be pursued by introducing amendments to the Clean Air Act and the Solid Waste Management Law.

De Pedro said most governors are not keen on allowing garbage from other urban centers, particularly Metro Manila, to be dumped in their respective areas.

He warned that serious conflict would only ensue if some cities or towns would insist on dumping their garbage in their neighboring areas.

"We have to bring the incinerators back before we literally become a country of garbage," said De Pedro, noting that even some First World countries are using incinerators to dispose of their garbage.

But he proposed that use of incinerators, which he admitted could pose serious risks to the environment in cases of prolonged use, should be selective and limited based on the needs of a particular area.
De Pedro, who assumed the LPP presidency last week following the formal assumption of former Laguna Gov. Joey Lina as interior and local government secretary, said garbage disposal "is actually among the serious problems of most urban areas in the country, including Min-danao."

In Mindanao, serious garbage disposal problems were noted in the cities of Davao, General Santos, Zamboanga, Cagayan de Oro, Cotabato and Koronadal and in many developing towns, De Pedro added.

De Pedro said incineration should be allowed until the country is able to implement properly the principles of solid waste management.

"The best way to dispose of our garbage is through recycling, segregation, composting and other waste management practices, but we need more time to educate the people to implement them properly," he said.