It's a controlled dumpsite, Fernando insists
Oct. 30, 2002
By Leila B. Salaverria and Christian V. Esguerra
Inquirer News Service

A CONTROLLED dumpsite was how Metro Manila Development Authority Chair Bayani Fernando on Tuesday described a dumpsite in Marikina City that the National Solid Waste Commission president Albert Magalang said was illegal.

Fernando, former mayor of Marikina, also said the dumpsite had a permit from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. (oh really?)

"It's called a controlled dumpsite," Fernando stressed, referring to the dumpsite in Doña Petra Subdivision in Marikina. "It has a permit from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources." (oh really?)

Fernando, who was mayor of Marikina for the last three terms, said the dumpsite has been operating "on and off" for 10 years because the city needs it.

Magalang said on Monday that in 1995, the commission had issued a closure order against the dumpsite, but it has not been enforced. He said Fernando's wife, Marides, who is now mayor of Marikina, refuses to enforce the closure order.

But Fernando, who is credited for turning the city into a clean and disciplined community, on Tuesday turned the tables on the complainants, saying those who are against the dumpsite are the ones living dangerously close to it. (in the first place, we were here first!)

"Those whom we've asked to leave the area are the ones aggravating the situation," Fernando said. "They are not permitted to live near the dumpsite." (who exactly are "they"...the scavengers. how about the long time residents of the near by subdivisions? The dumpsite is located in a residential area!)

Magalang has said the dumpsite was a threat to public health, emitting noxious fumes that caused a rash of respiratory illnesses among residents.

Fernando, however, claimed the dumpsite is sanitary. "You can even visit it if you want," he told the Inquirer. (sanitary? the pictures don't lie)

The environmental group Greenpeace on Tuesday urged Marikina residents to sue Fernando and his wife Marides over the dumpsite.

Von Hernandez, president of Greenpeace Philippines, said the NSWC should hold the Fernando couple accountable for the continued operation of the dumpsite.

"There's no reason why the illegal dumpsite should not be closed," Hernandez said.

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