EDITORIAL - Violating the waste management law

At least 32 municipalities in Cebu are facing a case for allegedly not complying with the law on waste management. This after the Global Legal Action on Climate Change-Cebu (GLACC) reportedly found out that these local government units have been violating the Republic Act 9003, otherwise known as the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2003.    

Lawyer Gloria Estenzo-Ramos of GLACC said a notice has already been sent to the concerned municipalities regarding their violations. However, Ramos explained that GLACC is giving these 32 LGUs 30 days to start complying with the provisions of the RA 9003.

If no changes to correct their ways of disposing waste are being implemented, the lawyer assured that they would file a case before the court against those erring municipalities.

It is really unfortunate that the solid waste management law is functioning without teeth. Since 2003, the year it came to life, we have yet to see its full implementation down to the lowest sector of community, the family.

And this has something to do with the lack of information dissemination by the authorities, especially the Department of Environment and natural Resources and the Department of the Interior and Local Government.   

It’s undeniable that majority of families across the country do not know about the RA 9003. They do not know how to segregate waste because their municipal and barangay leaders failed to inform them about the law and its importance to the environment.      

Even in highly urbanized areas such as Cebu City, many barangays are not complying with the waste management law. In the city, some barangays are not segregating their waste.

The city government itself is liable for this mess. That’s because it failed to strictly implement the law among its barangays. Besides, for opting to continue the operations of an open dumpsite – the Inayawan Landfill – the City Hall is even violating the law itself.         

The waste management law is timely amid environmental destruction sweeping across the world. But the apparent lack of information campaign has rendered it inutile.