Garbage haulers hit Rizal mayor

A big group of garbage haulers yesterday criticized the alleged defiance by officials of Rodriguez town in Rizal of an injunction slapped by the Makati regional trial court ordering them to “allow free and unobstructed access” to the sanitary landfill there.

In a statement, the Solid Waste Contractors Association of the Philippines (SWACAP) said the apparent disregard of Rodriguez Mayor Pedro Cuerpo for the court’s authority “threatens to plunge the garbage issue into total chaos.”

The group issued the statement following an announcement by the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) last Tuesday that it would file charges against Cuerpo for alleged indirect contempt due to the impounding of 15 garbage trucks entering the sanitary landfill.

MMDA chief legal counsel Emmanuel de Castro called Cuerpo’s alleged defiance “a mockery of the judicial system and a serious threat to public health.”

According to the SWACAP, the garbage trucks were illegally held after the haulers refused to give in to the demands for payment by the Rodriguez municipal government.

The SWACAP said Cuerpo’s alleged defiance of the court order “is alarming,” saying it shows that he apparently does not intend to abide by the legal processes for the peaceful resolution of the garbage issue.

Cuerpo’s exaction of payments from garbage haulers, according to the group, was ruled as “outside the powers” of the Rodriguez municipal government by the provincial board and Department of Justice last year.

The charges did not have the prior approval of the provincial board, as required by law.

The Rizal provincial government must act with dispatch if the looming garbage crisis in the province and Metro Manila is to be averted, the group said.

The SWACAP serves close to 80 percent of the garbage hauling requirements of Metro Manila cities and municipalities.

“If we are not able to peacefully collect, haul and dispose of the garbage of these local governments, then that is a serious problem,” it said.