‘Rama should stop blaming Mandaue’

CEBU, Philippines - Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes yesterday expressed disappointment that Cebu City Mayor Mike Rama is speaking against Mandaue City on the flooding problem by putting the blame on Mandaue for its alleged failure to immediately demolish footbridges that cross Mahiga creek.

Cortes urged Rama to stop attacking Mandaue, saying Cebu City, too, has committed environmental violations, particularly on the operation of the Cebu City Abattoir.

Cortes said Cebu City should also do its part as it too contributes to the flooding problem in Metro Cebu, adding that it is unfair for Rama to blame Mandaue and its informal settlers.

Cortes said it was learned after a survey that most footbridges built across Mahiga were made by Cebu City residents and that there are even a few that were funded by Cebu City barangays.

He explained that Mandaue City cannot just right then and there demolish the said footbridges as doing so might bring him legal problems since the boundary of the two LGUS is the median point, which is the middle of the creek.

Cortes said that during a meeting with Cebu City Vice Mayor Edgar Labella and a few Cebu City councilors, it was agreed that they both would check first the situation with regards to the footbridges that connects the two cities.

Cortes, however, was dismayed when Rama immediately issued statements demanding for the immediate demolition of the footbridges for fear that another flooding may occur.

Cortes said it is useless to talk with Cebu City representatives when they themselves do not coordinate with each other.

The Mandaue City ma-yor said they have been doing what they could and that the city has even started to clear Sitio Mahusay in Barangay Subangdaku of informal settlers because the city’s relocation site is already prepared and some of the affected residents can already avail of financial assistance.

He has also issued an order for the creation of a task force that would order all private and public establishments in the city to implement the three meters easement rule, or the banning of structures within three meters from each bank of waterways.

Cortes said that once Mandaue City strictly implements the easement law, Cebu City’s slaughterhouse, which lies along the Mahiga Creek at the North Reclamation Area, would be also be affected.

Cortes said he has kept silent for so long because he stood by his agreement with Labella and former Cebu City councilor Jose Daluz, but Rama kept on issuing statements against Mandaue.

“Unfair kaayo nga pakasad-on na lang gyud ang atong informal settlers nga naa man silay (Cebu City) mga violations sab,” Cortes said.

Cortes said the footbridge leading to the slaughterhouse has no permit and supporting documents and that the facility, which has operated since the 1990s, has a non-operational waste treatment facility it is possible that the abattoir just disposed hogs waste directly to the Mahiga creek.

The slaughterhouse, Cortes said, also has no permit and failed to secure a sanitary permit from Mandaue City.

He also said that since the abattoir is operating in Mandaue City, it should also pay for a regulatory permit as well as anti-mortem and post mortem fees.

Rama, he said, should introduce mitigating measures to slow down rainwater that flows from Cebu City to Mandaue by building catch basins in Barangay Talamban.

“Nahimo ming recipient sa tubig.  Don’t blame us, (instead,) tabangi mi.  Wa ko makig-away sa Cebu City ha, I’m just telling them what should be done.  Mao ra gyud na akong hangyo ni Mike — enough is enough, stop blaming Mandaue,” Cortes said.

Cebu City Department of Veterinary Medicine Chief Pilar Romero, on the other hand, denied that waste from the abattoir was thrown in the Mahiga creek.

“I beg to disagree. We never throw our solid wastes into the river. We did not cause the flooding in the area because we can see nga napuno na sa non-biodegradable wastes ang creek,” Romero said.

The Cebu City abattoir was constructed sometime in the 1980s and was then categorized as the best abattoir in Central Visayas for the past years.

An affected Romero said hogs’ waste are not dumped into the creek but are disposed and collected by the Cebu City Department of Public Services.

She, however, admitted that liquid wastes are thrown into to creek untreated because the abattoir’s wastewater treatment facility has been several years obsolete already.

“I believe in some aspects we contribute in polluting our river but we are not obviously the cause of the flooding in the area,” she said.

Romero is considering asking the Solid Waste Management Board to allow the use of the city’s Sewage Treatment Facility at the NRA to treat liquid waste from the slaughterhouse.

The sewage treatment facility has the capacity to store 200-meter cubic of septic waste while the machine can process at least 10 cubic meters of waste per hour.

Labella, on the other hand, said the cities of Cebu and Mandaue should “just stop the finger-pointing.”

“Let’s work together. We should collaborate, help and work together not to point fingers or blame each other,” he said, adding that he will personally pay Cortes a visit and speak with him.

He also said that addressing the problem on the footbridges is something that both cities should attend to.

“Let’s just find solutions to the problem. The removal of the footbridges should not be done by one city only,” Labella said. — /RHM (FREEMAN)