The Rizal provincial board recently told the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) and the Solid Waste Contractors Association of the Philippines (SWACAP) that it will soon rule on the latter’s complaint against the mayor of Rodriguez town (formerly Montalban) over the alleged continuing illegal exaction of fees for the use of the 19-hectare provincial landfill in the municipality.
In a statement, Rizal board member Dino Tanjuatco said the provincial government is taking decisive actions to avert a looming garbage crisis that could affect Metro Manila and several towns in Rizal.
The MMDA earlier had threatened to file indirect contempt charges against Rodriguez Mayor Pedro Cuerpo over alleged violations of an injunction issued by the Makati regional trial court that ordered him to allow free unhindered access of MMDA haulers using the Rizal landfill.
The MMDA rapped Cuerpo after the latter impounded some 15 trucks of the SWACAP when the group refused to pay the allegedly illegal fees.
The MMDA said the move seriously impaired garbage collection in Metro Manila and Rizal, and posed serious health risks.
Tanjuatco said the provincial government will soon release its resolution on a complaint filed last November by both the MMDA and SWACAP against Cuerpo’s alleged continuing violation of a provincial board resolution declaring the exaction of fees by the Rodriguez municipal government for the use of the provincial landfill as ultra vires or outside the scope of its authority.
Tanjuatco said the provincial board ruled as early as August last year that the exaction of fees by the municipal government had no legal basis or in short, illegal.
The continuing exaction of fees, as complained about by the MMDA and SWACAP, is an act of defiance, Tanjuatco said.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) upheld the Rizal provincial board’s ruling and warned that the continuing failure to abide by it is a violation of the Local Government Code.
The DOJ also warned that the penalty for such a violation ranges from suspension to dismissal of the local government officials concerned.
Tanjuatco assured the MMDA and SWACAP that the Rizal provincial will decisively act on the continuing defiance of the provincial resolution declaring the exaction of fees as without authority and legal basis.
Tanjuatco said all evidence in the MMDA and SWACAP complaints has to be compiled and all sides of the issue heard by the provincial board.
“This is to make sure that due process has been undertaken in our response to the MMDA and SWACAP complaints,” Tanjuatco said.