Planned San Mateo landfill is in a watershed area

[Matel]

Planned San Mateo landfill is in a watershed area - group
01/12/2009 | 03:12 PM

Email this | Email the Editor | Print | ShareThisMANILA, Philippines - The proposed landfill in San Mateo, Rizal will be located inside a watershed area, an environmental group warned Monday.

The warning was aired by Clemente Bautista Jr., the national coordinator of the Kalikasan People's Network for the Environment (Kalikasan-PNE), in a press statement.

In it, he added that putting up such facility in the area will endanger the health of San Mateo residents and Metro Manila water consumers.

"This will jeopardize not only the health of immediate communities, but also the health of millions of residents of Metro Manila who get their water supply from the watershed,"Bautista said.

The statement came after it was learned that the construction of a new dumpsite started last month in San Mateo.

Under the plan, a sanitary landfill will be put up in Barangays Maly and Guinayang.

Initially, Kalikasan said, the landfill was to cover a 19-hectare area but it is expected to expand to 200 hectares.

The group added that the site has been identified as part of a watershed reservation.

"Such facility in the area, once operational, will produce large amounts of leachate that will seep through the ground, thereby polluting the soil, groundwater, and nearby rivers, the group warned.

Also, Kalikasan said that the 200-hectare area to be covered by the new dumpsite is part of a 473-hectare area designated as Protected Forest Area by the Land Use Plan of San Mateo.

To bolster its argument, Kalikasan also cited a study by University of the Philippines National Institute of Geological Sciences (UP-NIGS).

The study concludes the San Mateo area as environmentally critical in nature, having slopes above 50 degrees that render it prone to landslides, flashfloods, erosion, massive soil wasting and other natural hazards.

"Removal of forest cover in the area to give way to the dumpsite will not only endanger lives of people in the communities, but will also destroy their sources of livelihood,"Kalikasan said, citiing the report.

Several dumpsites have operated in the Rizal province in the past, including the recently closed landfill in Rodriguez.

Protests planned

On Monday, Kalikasan said that several groups have been formed to oppose the new dumpsite.

One was named the Coalition of Garbage-Free San Mateo.

Kalikasan said that it was formed by concerned groups and individuals, along with the people of San Mateo and has already prepared a petition to stop the construction of the dumpsite.

The coalition claims that the Maly-Guinayang landfill project lacks an Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) from DENR thus making it illegal.

The group said that construction on the site was started after the contracted used an ECC obtained earlier for a different landfill project in Barangay Pintong Bukawe, San Mateo.

That site had been ordered closed by the Supreme Court in 2005.

To further publicize the issue and unite the people of San Mateo in opposing the illegal and hazardous dumpsite, the coalition has planned activities aimed at gathering more support.

On January 17 different cycling clubs in and outside San Mateo will stage a "Ride for a Cause."

The bikers will converge in the Church of San Mateo wherein a mass and a program will be held.

Also, the coalition plans to file a resolution in Congress, seeing it as avenue to put the project in a halt.- PR/GMANews.TV

[hirolionheart]

^^^
Aba..., hindi tama yan
Hindi dapat matuloy ang paglalagay ng landfill diyan dahil hindi lang ang San Mateo ang maaapektuhan kundi ang mga gumagamit ng tubig mula Metro Manila, pati ang kalikasan ay masisira...

[drahreg0530]

I agree. Hindi ko lang alam kung may approval na ang project na ito. Dahil sinisimulan na nilang gumawa ng road papunta dun sa alleged dumpsite. And if my source is right, pag-aari diumano ni Bokal Nemesio Roxas ang lupa na gagawing dumpsite.

Hindi po masama ang umasam ng kaunlaran o kahit ng konting "yaman". Huwag lamang sana gawing kapalit at magdulot ng pinsala sa kalikasan at sa mamamayan.

[hirolionheart]

Jan 16, 2009 21:23:52 GMT 8 @drahreg0530 said:

I agree. Hindi ko lang alam kung may approval na ang project na ito. Dahil sinisimulan na nilang gumawa ng road papunta dun sa alleged dumpsite. And if my source is right, pag-aari diumano ni Bokal Nemesio Roxas ang lupa na gagawing dumpsite.

Hindi po masama ang umasam ng kaunlaran o kahit ng konting "yaman". Huwag lamang sana gawing kapalit at magdulot ng pinsala sa kalikasan at sa mamamayan.

Saan kokonekta ang ginagawang kalsadang papunta sa alleged dumpsite? Sa Gen. Luna ba?

[hirolionheart]

Isa pang artikulo ukol sa bagong kumukulong San Mateo Landfill...

Plan to build new San Mateo landfill hit

By DJ Yap
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 00:59am (Mla time) 01/10/2009

MANILA, Philippines – Environment groups and concerned residents of San Mateo, Rizal, are up in arms over a proposal to build a new landfill in a forested part of the town, which would purportedly become the dumping ground of a portion of Metro Manila’s garbage.

The Coalition for a Garbage-Free San Mateo, a newly formed group, said the proposed construction of a 200-hectare landfill in Barangays Maly and Guinayang would “rival the infamous Payatas garbage dump” in Quezon City.

It said the landfill would be used as the dumping ground of wastes from the town, neighboring municipalities and even Metro Manila, which used to dump its garbage on the existing San Mateo landfill until the Supreme Court ordered it shut in 2005.

EcoWaste Coalition and Greenpeace also indicated their opposition to the project, which they said is located in an environmentally critical area since it is linked to the Marikina watershed and drains into the Laguna Lake.

Rei Panaligan, coordinator of EcoWaste, said his group is preparing documents for the possible filing of a complaint against the developers for violation of Republic Act 9003, or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act.

AC Dimatatac, a Greenpeace campaigner, said their organization was also looking at the project closely because of its probable links to bodies of water.

Sought for comment, town officials connected to the project were unavailable, and at press time, had not returned the Inquirer’s calls.

Jing Husin, a concerned citizen and a leader of the protest movement, said the landfill is to be built by the San Mateo Sanitary Landfill and Development Corp., a company formed on Sept. 11, 2007.

Done in secrecy

“The construction of the dumpsite was done in secrecy and with indecent haste, in utter disregard of Rep. Act No. 9003,” she said in an e-mail to the Inquirer.

According to Husin, the company secured an environmental clearance certificate from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources ostensibly for the construction of the dump in Sitio Mabilog na Bato, Barangay Pintong Bukawe.

But from the beginning, she said the company had intended to put up the dump not in Pintong Bukawe but in Barangays Maly and Guinayang, which, according to Husin, is a protected forest area.

“The 19-ha initial phase was actually built on a private property in Barangay Guinayang, several kilometers away from Pintong Bukawe, expandable to 200 ha or almost half of the 473-ha protected forest area when fully completed,” she said.

Quoting the Land Use Plan of San Mateo, Husin said “the protection forest area is found in the northern, middle, and eastern portion of the municipality, particularly in Barangays Maly, Guinayang, Malanday, Dulong Bayan II, Guitnangbayan II and Pintong Bukawe.

“These are the areas which slope above 50 percent which based on PD705 and RA No 7586 should be put under permanent forest cover by virtue of their environmentally critical nature, i.e., being prone to such natural hazards as landslides, erosion, mass wasting and soil creep,” she said.

[hirolionheart]

At eto pa...

New Landfill in San Mateo

By: Ray Eñano
Manila Standard Today
Thursday, November 27, 2008

Looming controversy

A company endorsed by the provincial government of Rizal and San Mateo has begun work on a proposed landfill in Barangay Pintong Bukawe. Many San Mateo residents are not aware of the project yet, but construction and earth-moving activities at the proposed dumpsite are going at a feverish pace.

Concerned sectors in San Mateo have already expressed alarm over the project site, saying it is part of the Marikina watershed area, where natural springs and creeks abound. They said the proposed landfill and its proponent, San Mateo Sanitary Landfill and Development Corp., have also not received an environment clearance certificate from the Environment Department of Secretary Lito Atienza to proceed with the project.

The Rizal government spearheaded the dumpsite project in January this year when it approved in a resolution the establishment of an “alternative sanitary landfill within the territorial jurisdiction of San Mateo.” The resolution said it approved the project due to the “overwhelming support of the Sangguniang Barangay of Pintong Bukawe and Sangguniang Bayan of San Mateo, Rizal and its municipal mayor.”

Some town residents, however, said they did not endorse it, nor were aware that such a project was afoot in San Mateo. They warn of great environmental risks posed by the project, noting that leachates could seep into Wawa’s river systems and eventually filter into La Mesa Dam.

[drahreg0530]

Ang kalasada na papunta sa ginagawang dumpsite ay sinisimulan na. Makikita ito sa Kambal Road papunta ng Timberland. Ang proposed na dadaanan nito ay yung C-6 Road.

Maraming salamat nga pala sa mga nagpunta sa misa kaninang umaga para tutulan ang ginagawang dumpsite. Sa mga miyembro ng Greenpeace, mga kasama sa media at mga miyembro ng iba't-ibang biker's association. Batid namin ang inyong pakikiisa sa amin kahit na kayo ay hindi taga-san mateo.

Mabuhay ang San Mateo.

[hirolionheart]

Jan 17, 2009 18:42:33 GMT 8 @drahreg0530 said:

Ang kalasada na papunta sa ginagawang dumpsite ay sinisimulan na. Makikita ito sa Kambal Road papunta ng Timberland. Ang proposed na dadaanan nito ay yung C-6 Road.

Maraming salamat nga pala sa mga nagpunta sa misa kaninang umaga para tutulan ang ginagawang dumpsite. Sa mga miyembro ng Greenpeace, mga kasama sa media at mga miyembro ng iba't-ibang biker's association. Batid namin ang inyong pakikiisa sa amin kahit na kayo ay hindi taga-san mateo.

Mabuhay ang San Mateo.

I see..., malapit-lapit pala sa Kambal Road. Magsu-survey nga ako minsan diyan...

Sa Diocesan Shrine of Our Lady of Aranzazu ginanap ang misa, tama?
Buti naman at marami ang sumuporta dito

[drahreg0530]

Tama po. Sa Nuestra po ginanap ang misa. Malapit lang po sa divine mercy village ang road na ginagawa papuntang dumpsite.

[hirolionheart]

San Mateo residents protest new landfill

By Beverly T. Natividad
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 23:11:00 01/17/2009

MANILA, Philippines -- Residents of San Mateo, Rizal along with environmental groups on Saturday launched a protest action to stop the illegal construction of a new garbage dump there.

Protesters on bikes rolled into town Saturday for a nine-kilometer bike rally to call on the Rizal provincial government to halt the construction of a garbage dump on a 19-hectare area spanning two San Mateo villages, Guinayang and Maly.

Residents of Guinayang and Maly questioned the legality of the dumpsite's construction in their villages when its environmental permit said that it is supposed to be located in the village of Pintong Bukawe.

Their calls were supported by the Coalition for a Garbage-Free San Mateo, which is composed of environmental groups like the EcoWaste Coalition, Greenpeace, Kalikasan-People’s Network for the Environment, Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives, as well as non-government organizations like Akbayan, Bike Roadie Group, the University of the Philippines’ Mountaineers, and the Firefly Brigade.

The residents are asking local officials and the Department of Environmental and Natural Resources to scrap plans to build a new dumpsite in San Mateo altogether.

Jing Husin, spokesperson for the coalition, said that the sanitary landfill also cannot be located in Pintong Bukawe as a 2005 Supreme Court ruling stopped the building of a garbage facility there due to fears of contaminating a nearby watershed.

“The 19-hectare initial phase of the new dumpsite built in Guinayang is located within the Marikina Watershed Reservation. According to the proposal, it is expandable to 200 hectares, which virtually removes almost half of the 473-hectare forest cover in barangays (villages) Guinayang and Maly,” said Husin.

Apart from the serious water pollution threats from garbage leachate seeping into the water systems in the area, the coalition also pointed out that the planned location of the San Mateo landfill has a slope of over 50 degrees, making it prone to natural hazards like landslides.

Residents also lamented that they were never consulted nor informed of the landfill project. Had they been, they said, they would have objected to it because of the health hazards it poses to their community.

“We are against such a project. We want to ensure the future of our children. Dirty water can only bring us sickness,” said Marciano Gulle, a pastor, and one of the protesting San Mateo residents.

“This kind of blight was the reason the old landfill in Montalban (now Rodriguez, Rizal) was closed. Now they’re opening a new landfill in San Mateo,” he added, referring to the 14-hectare garbage dump in Rodriguez which was closed by the provincial government in 2007 for having reached its full capacity.

Rizal then opened an adjacent 19-hectare landfill in Rodriguez, which now accepts garbage from both Rizal and Metro Manila residents.

Meanwhile, a convoy of media people on their way to the construction site of the San Mateo landfill were stopped and threatened by a man on horseback who wielded what appeared to be a “paltik” or homemade gun. The convoy consisted of six photographers, one reporter, and one television cameraman, plus their guides.

The man -- identified only as Jerry and said to be working for the owner of the landfill, Abelardo L. Salazar -- prohibited the media convoy from continuing on the road some 500 meters away from the landfill’s entrance and pulled out his gun to warn the group against going further.

At one point, the gun-toting “guard” threatened to shoot one of the photographers when the latter attempted to take photos of him and of the site.

The new garbage dump being built in San Mateo is said to be owned by the San Mateo Sanitary Landfill & Development Corporation (SMSLDC), which is owned by Salazar.

According to the coalition, the SMSLDC was able to secure an Environmental Compliance Certificate from the DENR in November 2008 to construct a landfill in the village of Pintong Bukawe, and not in Guinayang-Maly.

[gorio]

huwag naman sana matuloy ito. marami na nga trak ng graba dumadaan sa san mateo, madadagdagan pa ng trak ng basura.

[hirolionheart]

Jan 19, 2009 6:44:51 GMT 8 @gorio said:

huwag naman sana matuloy ito. marami na nga trak ng graba dumadaan sa san mateo, madadagdagan pa ng trak ng basura.

Oo nga eh..., and it's very ironic na karamihan ng mga dumadaang sasakyan sa mga pangunahing lansangan ng San Mateo ay malalaki at mabibigat sa kabila ng maliliit/makikitid nating kalsada

[dolares]

Cge lang, ituloy lang nila ang dumpsite, ituloy ang pag tatambak ng basura sa bayang aking sinilangan, sa isang kundisyon, lumipat na din dun si Mayor Paeng, sa loob mismo ng dumpsite para maamoy nya ang baho ng kanyang proyekto.

[hirolionheart]

Mamayang gabi sa Probe (an ABS-CBN current affairs program), ipapalabas ang tungkol sa landfill na ito...

[Coconut]

Ang tanong; bakit merong proyekto apektado ang buong lunsod hindi dumadaan sa public hearing or public involvement. Kung saan ipinaliliwanag sa mga tao and planong proyekto. Iilan lang ang nakakaalam ang tungkol sa project, kung hindi pa nabuko isang araw mabibigla ka na lang meron nang dumpsite sa iyong bakuran. Maliwanag na sabwatan ng may ari ng lupa na pag-tatayuan, Mataas na government official ng San Mateo, mataas na official ng govement agencies sa pag-issue ng permits. Hindi ko lang alam kung ang ganitong malaking proyekto ay dumadaan sa public bidding nasasakupan ng San Mateo. Normal na kalakaran sa lahat ng dako sa Pinas ang lagayan, tatapalan ka ng pera para hindi ka na umalma. Parang kabayo pinipiringan ang mata, nilalagyan ng renda konektado sa bibig para kontrolado ang galaw. Ganito ang taong mukhang pera. Paano kaya nila nasisikmura ang pinapakain sa pamilya galing sa maling paraan, hindi pinaghirapan. Talagang merong “Bidding Cartel” sa gobyerno, may mga padrino. Sindikato sa loob mismo ng pamahalaan. Tignan ninyo ang kaso ng tatlong construction firm na blacklisted ng World Bank na ngayon ay binubusisi sa Senado na pinamumunuan ni Sen. Miriam Santiago. Sabwatan ng DPWH at ngayon dinadawit asawa ng Pangulo. Imposiblen hindi alam ni Mayor Jose Rafael Diaz at ng kanyang Municipal Council ang tunkol sa dump site project. Alam nila na water shed area ang pag-tatayuan binigyan nila ng green light, bakit? Nakakasilaw ang kinang ng pera. Mga politico negosyante, kamihan sa kanila tumatakbong kandidato dahil alam nila malaki ang returned of investment ang motibo at hindi pag-lilingkod sa bayan. Silipin mo ang kanilang network pagkatapos ng kanilang term asensado ilan lang ang hindi nasisilaw sa pera nanatiling tikom ang bibig dahil mahirap kalabanin ang ang mga ito meron silang “guns and goons” Sa ganitong kalaking proyekto mga trahabador (laborer) under paid pinapipirma sa tamang suweldo pero mababa ang tinatanggap, umangal ka tanggal kang bigla wala kang trabaho, tanong mo bakit alam mo? Isang akong Civil Engineer at kinukuwento nila sa akin ang tungkol sa ganitong kalakaran at walang nakikinig sa aking sinasabi na kailangan baguhin ang ganitong kalakaran bumitiw ako sa trabaho dahil ayokong makibahagi sa maling prinsipyo. Kaya kayo mga kabataan mabuti ang nag-sisikap at umasenso sa tamang paraan, walang inaapakan tao. Maging parang kawayan habang tumataas ay yumuyuko. Ibig sabihin habang pinagpapala ng Diyos marunong magpakumbaba. Huwag mang-aapi ng kapwa. Pinakakain sa pamilya pinaghirapan sa tamang paraan. Ang baho na nga ng San Mateo dahil sa sa dump site ng Payatas, Montalban idagdag pa ang mga babuyan kahit naka aircon ka amoy pa rin ang baho. Teka bukas pa ba ang dump site sa taas ng bundok ng San Mateo na inaangkin ng Antipolo?

[hirolionheart]

^^^
Nakakalungkot na laganap na talaga ang mga anomalya sa pamahalaan kahit saang sektor, at ito ay pinag-uugatan ng pagiging ganid sa kapangyarihan at sa kayamanan (pera)...

Ang alam ko ay matagal ng ipinasara ng Supreme Court noon pang 2005 ang sinasabi mong dumpsite sa ibang bahagi ng bundok ng San Mateo

[hirolionheart]

Rizal, Bulacan landfills ‘defective, anomalous’ - group

01/28/2009 | 03:25 PM

MANILA, Philippines - Environmentalists on Wednesday protested the proliferation of landfills in Rizal and Bulacan provinces, saying that aside from environmental concerns these facilities also had "irregularities and anomalies."

The group zeroed in on the Rizal Sanitary Landfill in Rodriguez, Rizal, and the Wacuman Sanitary Landfill in Norzagaray, Bulacan.

"In the guise of solving the waste problem in Metro Manila, officials are now posing to make millions of bucks from construction and operation of defective sanitary landfills," said Clemente Bautista, national coordinator of the Kalikasan People's Network for the Environment, an environmental activist group.

Bautista said the availability of funds and the lucrative tipping cost of garbage would be "a big incentive to corrupt government officials."

Records from the National Solid Waste Management Commission show that there are 16 existing sanitary landfills in the country, while another 19 landfill sites have already been issued environmental compliance certificates and are currently under construction.

Landfills will also be constructed in the municipalities of San Jose del Monte, Bulacan, in San Mateo, Rizal, and in Ternate, Cavite – all of which are reportedly located in watersheds or forest areas.

"As Metro Manila tries to resolve its perennial problem on garbage, more communities and environmentally-critical areas... have been marked as dumping grounds for an estimated 8,000 tons of waste generated daily," Clemente said.

He said, however, that the so-called "sanitary landfills" had various flaws and irregularities, which ranged from "technical feasibility, environmental and health safety, to kickbacks and corruption."

Bautista cited the case of the P380 million San Mateo Landfill project, which according to Darrow Lucenario, an environmental and sanitary engineer, was "technically flawed" and violated several environmental standards and guidelines.

Not only is it said to be overpriced, it is also inside a protected forest area and threatens to pollute and contaminate waters sources there.

"We are calling for the total stoppage of the San Mateo landfill project because we know it will definitely affect our health and livelihood in San Mateo," said Tony Balute, a local resident and member of Coalition for Garbage-Free San Mateo.

Accoridng to Catholic priest Fr. Anacleto Ignacio, who heads local opposition against the 40-hectare landfill project in San Jose del Monte, Bulacan, the Bulacan landfill is near the Water Treatment Plant in San Jose del Monte.

"Even with this glaring health risk, the municipal government allowed the construction of this landfill," Ignacio said. "We are saddened by the fact that there are government officials and businessmen who will risk the life of our people and destroy the environment for the sake of profit. We are firm in our stand in opposing these landfills in our area." – JAT,GMANews.TV

[hirolionheart]

Greenpeace statement on the construction of the San Mateo landfill

January 18, 2009

Manila, PHILIPPINES — Hundreds of bikers representing civil society and environmental groups today staged a 9 kilometer bike rally from Maarat Road in San Mateo to the Nuestra Señora de Aranzazu Church to call on the Rizal Provincial Government to halt the construction of a dumpsite in Barangays Maly and Guinayang in San Mateo, Rizal.

Greenpeace Southeast Asia Toxics Campaigner Beau Baconguis said:

"Greenpeace strongly opposes the construction and operation of a landfill in the municipality of San Mateo. San Mateo is located within the Marikina Watershed Reservation and the larger Laguna Lake Water Basin. Any waste facility located within the municipality therefore poses serious pollution threats to the groundwater sources and surrounding river systems such as the Marikina River which feeds into Laguna Lake.

"Establishing a sanitary landfill within the Marikina watershed will severely compromise the water quality of surrounding water sources and Laguna Lake as well as the health of communities that depend on them. Even so-called 'sanitary landfills' create toxic leachates which escape into the environment and contaminate air, soil and water.

"The San Mateo landfill clearly flouts Presidential Proclamation No. 2146 which declares watershed reserves as environmentally critical areas, as well as section 40e of the Ecological Solid Waste Management Law (Republic Act 9003) which states that the location of a landfill must not 'detrimentally affect environmentally sensitive resources such as aquifer, groundwater reservoir or watershed area'.

"Greenpeace is therefore calling for an immediate stop to the construction of the San Mateo waste facility as an urgent and much needed step to protect the country's dwindling freshwater resources. What is needed is for waste reduction, segregation at source and recycling, as mandated in the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act, to be seriously implemented in order to address the waste issue and the need for landfills eliminated."

Notes to Editor

Within the Mt. Mataba and Marikina Watershed headwaters flow and natural springs abound. These springs are important sources of drinking water for the communities in San Mateo and surrounding barangays. As they are in the direct impact area, San Mateo and adjacent communities are bound to suffer from water contamination of their groundwater and springs.

Laguna Lake is seen as an alternative source of drinking water for Metro Manila. A current contract already allows water from the lake to be drawn for Muntinlupa City's domestic use. The Laguna Lake Development Authority has publicly declared the need to improve the water quality of the lake for domestic supply and finds garbage dumps incompatible with that plan.

In 2005, a Supreme Court ruling closed down the first San Mateo landfill in Pintong Bocaue, the arguments solidly against its operations citing environmental and health risks among others.

Contact information

Beau Baconguis: Toxics Campaigner, Greenpeace Southeast Asia, Mobile No. [phone]

[hirolionheart]

Bulacan, Rizal communities up in arms against landfills

By JESUS F. LLANTO, abs-cbnNEWS.com/Newsbreak | 01/28/2009 7:25 PM



An environment group and local residents of two towns near Metro Manila are opposing the construction of two landfills, which, they claim, are both located in watershed or forest areas.

Environment group Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment (Kalikasan-PNE) and local groups from San Mateo town in Rizal province and San Jose del Monte in Bulacan province told reporters in a forum Wednesday that the landfills constructed in these towns would pose risks to residents and to nearby watershed areas.

Fr. Anacleto Ignacio, one of the leaders of those who oppose the landfill in Barangay Minuyan Proper in San Jose del Monte, said the local government allowed the construction of the landfill despite the health risks it poses to the residents.

“We are saddened by the fact that there are government officials and businessmen who will risk the life of our people and destroy the environment for the sake of profit,” Ignacio said, adding that the landfill is in Barangay Minuyan Proper, which is also the site of the water treatment plant of the town.

Clemente Bautista, national coordinator of Kalikasan-PNE, added that the San Jose del Monte landfill still does not have an environmental compliance certificate (ECC).

Similarly, residents of Barangay Guinayang in San Mateo town in Rizal are calling for the closing of the landfill project in their area. Tony Balute, a local resident and member of Coalition for Garbage-Free San Mateo, said that aside from the dangers it pose to their health, there are anomalies surrounding how operators obtained the legal requirements.

The Coalition for a Garbage-Free San Mateo said that the initial phase of the landfill sits on a 19-hectare private property but can be expanded to 200 hectares or almost half of the 473-hectare protected forest area in barangays Guinayang and Maly.

The coalition said that San Mateo Landfill & Development Corp., the builder of the landfill, was able to secure an ECC in November last year but not on the actual site, barangays Guinayang and Maly. The coalition said the builder applied for ECC for a landfill in barangay Pintong Bukawe, where a previous attempt to put up a landfill was struck down by the Supreme Court in 2005 because it is within the Marikina Watershed Reservation.

Citing data from the National Solid Waste Management Commission, Bautista said the two landfills are among the 16 landfill sites in the country that are undergoing construction.

“As Metro Manila tries to resolve its perennial problem on garbage, more and more communities and environmentally critical areas outside the sprawling metropolis has been marked as dumping grounds for an estimated 8,000 tons of waste generated daily,” Bautista said.

“These so-called ‘sanitary landfills’ have various flaws and irregularities, which range from technical feasibility, environmental and health safety, to kickbacks and corruption,” he added.

as of 01/28/2009 7:25 PM

[St. Expeditus]

Jan 31, 2009 6:13:25 GMT 8 @Coconut said:

Ang tanong; bakit merong proyekto apektado ang buong lunsod hindi dumadaan sa public hearing or public involvement. Kung saan ipinaliliwanag sa mga tao and planong proyekto. Iilan lang ang nakakaalam ang tungkol sa project, kung hindi pa nabuko isang araw mabibigla ka na lang meron nang dumpsite sa iyong bakuran. Maliwanag na sabwatan ng may ari ng lupa na pag-tatayuan, Mataas na government official ng San Mateo, mataas na official ng govement agencies sa pag-issue ng permits. Hindi ko lang alam kung ang ganitong malaking proyekto ay dumadaan sa public bidding nasasakupan ng San Mateo. Normal na kalakaran sa lahat ng dako sa Pinas ang lagayan, tatapalan ka ng pera para hindi ka na umalma. Parang kabayo pinipiringan ang mata, nilalagyan ng renda konektado sa bibig para kontrolado ang galaw. Ganito ang taong mukhang pera. Paano kaya nila nasisikmura ang pinapakain sa pamilya galing sa maling paraan, hindi pinaghirapan. Talagang merong “Bidding Cartel” sa gobyerno, may mga padrino. Sindikato sa loob mismo ng pamahalaan. Tignan ninyo ang kaso ng tatlong construction firm na blacklisted ng World Bank na ngayon ay binubusisi sa Senado na pinamumunuan ni Sen. Miriam Santiago. Sabwatan ng DPWH at ngayon dinadawit asawa ng Pangulo. Imposiblen hindi alam ni Mayor Jose Rafael Diaz at ng kanyang Municipal Council ang tunkol sa dump site project. Alam nila na water shed area ang pag-tatayuan binigyan nila ng green light, bakit? Nakakasilaw ang kinang ng pera. Mga politico negosyante, kamihan sa kanila tumatakbong kandidato dahil alam nila malaki ang returned of investment ang motibo at hindi pag-lilingkod sa bayan. Silipin mo ang kanilang network pagkatapos ng kanilang term asensado ilan lang ang hindi nasisilaw sa pera nanatiling tikom ang bibig dahil mahirap kalabanin ang ang mga ito meron silang “guns and goons” Sa ganitong kalaking proyekto mga trahabador (laborer) under paid pinapipirma sa tamang suweldo pero mababa ang tinatanggap, umangal ka tanggal kang bigla wala kang trabaho, tanong mo bakit alam mo? Isang akong Civil Engineer at kinukuwento nila sa akin ang tungkol sa ganitong kalakaran at walang nakikinig sa aking sinasabi na kailangan baguhin ang ganitong kalakaran bumitiw ako sa trabaho dahil ayokong makibahagi sa maling prinsipyo. Kaya kayo mga kabataan mabuti ang nag-sisikap at umasenso sa tamang paraan, walang inaapakan tao. Maging parang kawayan habang tumataas ay yumuyuko. Ibig sabihin habang pinagpapala ng Diyos marunong magpakumbaba. Huwag mang-aapi ng kapwa. Pinakakain sa pamilya pinaghirapan sa tamang paraan. Ang baho na nga ng San Mateo dahil sa sa dump site ng Payatas, Montalban idagdag pa ang mga babuyan kahit naka aircon ka amoy pa rin ang baho. Teka bukas pa ba ang dump site sa taas ng bundok ng San Mateo na inaangkin ng Antipolo?

AMEN!

Ako ay isang kabataan na nagsisikap maging isang mabuting huwaran hindi lang ng aking kapwa ka edad gayun na din ng mga mas nakatatanda sa akin.

Nais kong ipakita sa kanila ang tunay na kahulugan ng "public servant" at sa gayong paraan sa pagtanda ko ay walang kabayaran ang aking mga ngiti sa taos pusong paglilingkod at sa accomplishments na nagawa ko habang ako ay nasa kabataan pa.

(opps sorry off topic)

[hirolionheart]

Ilan pang artikulo ukol sa landfill na ito...

Plans to block San Mateo landfill opening mulled

By: Alvin Murcia
People's Tonight
January 22, 2009 06:31 PM Thursday

FUTURE plans are now being discussed by the coalition of environmentalists and residents of San Mateo to effectively block the opening of a 19-hectare landfill that has been secretly constructed in the town.

The group that called itself Coalition for a Garbage Free San Mateo disclosed that pressure should be applied so the facility which is now being fasttracked inside a private property in Bgy. Guinayang in San Mateo, Rizal will be prevented from being utilized as garbage dump of Metro Manila.

The group composed of EcoWaste Coalition, Greenpeace, Kalikasan, Bike Roadie Group, UP Mountaineers and the Firefly Brigade which formed part of the Coalition for a Garbage Free San Mateo are exchanging notes so officials of the local government of San Mateo can be well educated on the dangers of the said landfill.

The 19-hectare initial phase is expandable to 200 hectares or almost half of the 473-hectare Protected Forest Area in Bgys. Guinayang-Maly.

The facility is being developed by San Mateo Sanitary Landfill & Development Corporation (SMSLDC), reportedly owned and controlled by an influential contractor, Abelardo L. Salazar.

The company was formed last September 11, 2007, SMSLDC and was able to secure an Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) on November 24, 2008 that refers to a landfill site in Pintong Bukawe and not in Bgys. Guinayang-Maly.

The landfill located in Pintong Bukawe operated by the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority was permanently closed down by the Supreme Court in December 13, 2005, because its location was within the Marikina Water shed Reservation.

The landfill that is being constructed is also sitting on the Marikina Watershed Reservation and the larger Laguna Lake basin is also threatened to be affected by the leacheate the dump would generate.

The construction was done in secrecy and the coalition said it is a violation of Republic Act 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000.

Beau Bangcoquis, a Greenpeace campaigner, said the facility is located within the Marikina Watershed Reservation and the larger Laguna Lake Basin and any waste facility located within the municipality poses serious pollution threats to groundwater sources and surrounding river systems such as the Marikina River which feeds into Laguna Lake.

The group said the water quality of the surrounding will be severely compromised particularly the Laguna Lake aside from the threat on the health of communities that depend on them.

[hirolionheart]

EDITORIAL

Tragi-comic Metro Manila
garbage dump problem

The Manila Times
Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Like most other things Philippine, Metro Manila’s garbage dumpsite problem should be treated as comedy. But we can’t because they are fraught with tragic consequences and memories of actual tragedies.

With a population of about 12 million, the largest urban center of the country is Metro Manila. In recent years four dumpsites—Smokey Mountain, Carmona, Payatas and San Mateo—served the metropolis (some say megalopolis) until they closed down one by one.

The first dumpsite that became famous worldwide is Smokey Mountain. Before the area was turned into a housing estate for the poor, the TV stations of the planet served up images of poverty in the Philippines from Tondo—with scavengers gathering what they could make money out of from the mixture of household and toxic hospital and industrial garbage.

Then Payatas also gained televised notoriety. Worse came on July 10, 2000 when tragedy struck. A mountain of garbage overlooking a slum community caved in, killing 218 people and making 300 families homeless.

Landslides in dumpsites are not the only tragedies that make them far from comical. The health hazards the poor are exposed to in slum communities adjoining the dumpsites virtually condemn most of them to lives of frailty and illness.

In 2005, the Supreme Court issued a ruling ordering the permanent closure of the landfill in Pintong Bukawe, San Mateo town, Rizal province. The High Court made a big point of two facts: “First, the San Mateo site has adversely affected its environs and second, the sources of water should always be protected.”

Water sources should be protected

There are Philippine laws that protect water sources.

There is Presidential Proclamation 2146. It declares watershed reservations to be environmentally critical areas. Republic Act 9003 declares that a landfill’s location must not affect environmentally sensitive resources—aquifers, groundwater reservoirs and watershed areas. The Marikina Watershed Reservation feeds into Rizal and Metro Manila’s water supply. The San Mateo, Rizal, dumpsites are directly involved in the water configurations of these areas.

Earlier, an old 14-hectare landfill in a town then called Montalban and now named Rodriquez, in Rizal province, was closed, precisely because it had reached its full capacity—and it was polluting the water of the region.

But the provincial government soon opened a new landfill, a 19-hectare facility, located just next to the old one. Some provinces welcome garbage from the cities of Metro Manila because it is income.

Then recently the people of San Mateo found out that a new dumpsite was being opened in their town, at the border area between Barangays Maly and Guinayang.

The village residents questioned the legality of the environmental permit and certificate of compliance allowing the dumpsite to be constructed in their barangays because the document names Barangay Pintong Bukawe as the location. Fortunately, Environment and Natural Resources Secretary appears to be looking into the misuse of the document his department issued on November 2008.

The residents immediately won the support of a formidable coalition of Green Groups. To dramatize their protest and involve more citizens of San Mateo town, on Saturday, hundreds of cyclists wearing green T-shirts converged at San Mateo’s Nuestra Señora de Aranzazu Church to attend a special Mass and blessing. In his homily, Father Alex Benedicto cited the landfill’s health and environmental hazards and called for its closure.

The participating environmentalist organizations were EcoWaste Coalition, Greenpeace, Kalikasan, Bike Roadie Group, UP Mountaineers and the Firefly Brigade. Several hundred bikers from Metro Manila—with radio, TV and print media crews covering the protest—biked around the town in green T-shirts reading Padyakan Laban sa Tambakan. Residents of Maly-Guinayang, site of the landfill, also wore green T-shirts printed with the sign “San Mateo Mamamayan Laban sa Tambakan, Coalition for a Garbage-Free San Mateo.”

“San Mateo is located within the Marikina Watershed Reservation and the larger Laguna Lake Basin. Any waste facility located within the municipality poses serious pollution threats to groundwater sources and surrounding river systems such as the Marikina River which feeds into Laguna Lake,” a Greenpeace Southeast Asia statement signed by Beau Bangcoguis, Toxics Campaigner, was distributed in the churchyard.

It will “severely compromise the water quality of surrounding water sources and Laguna Lake as well as the health of communities that depend on them,” the statement further said. It cited toxic leachates that contaminate air, soil and water.

Tons of garbage in the dumpsite will breed microorganisms and disease-carrying rats, mosquitoes and flies multiplying the likely spread of dysentery, typhoid, Hepatitis A, and cholera germs and viruses.

And the 19-hectare dumpsite—expandable to 200 hectares—sits in a mountain slope dangerously liable to slide, as Payatas did, during heavy-rain months.

Paltik-toting guard on horseback

When the biking protesters and caravan were trying to enter the dumpsite, a comic episode transpired. Reporters, photographers, radio-TV media crews and the Padyakan Laban sa Tambakan cyclists were barred from entering by a gun-toting man on horseback. He aimed his paltik-shotgun at photographers attempting to take his picture. He said the group was trespassing on private property. The new landfill is allegedly operated by San Mateo Sanitary Landfill and Development Corporation.

The Local Government Code requires public consultation prior to project implementation of landfills. None was ever held.

The Coalition for a Garbage-Free San Mateo, made up of Maly-Guinayang residents and all the environmental groups supporting them, are all with Kalikasan national coordinator Clemente Bautista Jr.’s demand that “The San Mateo landfill project should be immediately stopped.”

We concur.

[hirolionheart]

At ang kinahantungan..., handa ng tumanggap ng basura ang bagong San Mateo Landfill sa Brgy. Pintong Bukawe...

San Mateo dump gets the green light

Gigi Muoz David and Erika Z. Vizcarra
Manila Standard
2 February 2009 | 11:00 PM

Bucking opposition by environment activists, the operator of the San Mateo waste dump is ready to give it a go. Andy Santiago, president of the San Mateo Sanitary Landfill and Development Corp., said it has given the green light for the 19-hectare facility in Rizal province to do business.

The San Mateo landfill is technically operational and is soon to accept garbage from its host town and neighboring cities and municipalities, he told Standard Today.

Santiago said the town would pay no fees to bring in its garbage but Metro Manilas solid waste could be accommmodated on fixed charges.

He said the local government and Metro Manila Development Authority Chairman Bayani Fernando had yet to hammer out an agreement on terms and conditions particularly on charges.

This is the answer to the perennial garbage disposal problem not only of San Mateo but also in the nearby localities.

The new landfill in Barangay Pintong Bukawe began construction in July 2008 and was completed late December and outside the protected zone, said Santiago.

It is located seven kilometers from the watershed in contrast to what they [environmentalists] are saying. These groups are harping on the wrong facts because we have a certification that we are outside the forest and the watershed.

Beau Bacongis, Greenpeace convenor, acknowledged that the Natural Resources Environmental Management Bureau had granted Santiagos firm a compliance certificate for a site that also stradled the boundary of Maly and Guinayang.

The sanitary-engineered landfill worth an estimated P380-million project awaits a permit from the Laguna Lake Development Authority.

Santiago said the 5-hectare crater is lined up with layers of high density polyethelene membrane that is certified impermeable.

This ensures safety to the residents of San Mateo that there will be no secretions from the solid wastes that may endanger their health, he said, noting that about 2,000 of the towns 184,860 population, based on a 2007 census, will be given jobs as recyclers earning P300 to P500 daily.

All of the barangays in San Mateo has given their full support, while, we as sanitary advocates, it is our moral conviction to protect the people of San Mateo and the environment, as well. And we will protect them, Santiago said.

San Mateo Mayor Jose Rafael Diaz is gungho over the towns economic gains particularly in employment amid the global financial crunch.

The landfill is beneficial to the town especially as it will generate work to the residents of the Pintong Bukawe, he said.

As a bonus, according to Santiago, the dump would generate a refuse derived fuel or an alternative energy as a byproduct of the decomposing waste materials.

[Expressions]

Bakit hindi ninyo tanungin ang Mayor tungkol sa San Mateo landfill? Go to www.sanmateo.gov.ph
double click his name and will take you to his email address. He will not know who you are unless you sign-in as registered member and type-in your email address. Use alias and give him a hard time. Sa palagay mo na tapalan din ba ng kuwarta ang Mayor kaya ang landfill ay naitayo? Karapatan ng Mamamayan ng San Mateo malaman ang mga proyekto katulad nito apektado ang lahat pati na ang kalikasan. Mabaho na dati lalo nang bumantot ang San Mateo.

[hirolionheart]

Green groups sue San Mateo officials for dumping

abs-cbnNEWS.com | 02/16/2009 2:48 PM

Environmental groups on Monday filed a civil suit against San Mateo Mayor Jose Rafael Diaz and Barangay Captain Cecilia Laceste for allowing the illegal dumping of garbage in the Marikina watershed.

Plaintiffs led by the EcoWaste Coalition, Buklod Tao, Reverend Fr. Alfred Albor and concerned residents asked the Regional Trial Court of San Mateo, Rizal to issue a temporary restraining order to halt the illegal dumping in Barangay Pintong Bukawe that contravenes Republic Act 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act.

Invoking their right to file a “citizen suit” under R. A. 9003, the plaintiffs accused the defendants of “clear and blatant violation of the law” that prohibits and penalizes open dumping.

“Mayor Diaz and Barangay Captain Laceste have abused their power and positions and have brazenly defied R.A. 9003. By operating the municipal dump inside the Marikina Watershed, they have put at risk the health, safety and well-being of the residents of Barangay Pintong Bukawe and adjacent communities,” Armand Mejia, legal counsel of the EcoWaste Coalition, said in a press statement.

Mejia described the open dumping in Barangay Pintong Bukawe as “grossly and patently “ violating Sections 37 and 48 of R.A. 9003, which ban the maintenance and operation of open dumps.

The plaintiffs assert that Barangay Pintong Bukawe is an environmentally-critical area as it is inside the Marikina Watershed Reservation. The dump ,which caters to mixed solid wastes of San Mateo since 2003, is situated along a ravine with a waterway located below.

The plaintiffs asked the court to declare the open dump in Barangay Pintong Bukawe illegal and to order for its permanent closure and subsequent rehabilitation.

"Adding insult to injury, the two officials also allowed the construction of a new waste disposal facility in Barangay Pintong Bukawe," said Mejia.

Buklod Tao, the EcoWaste Coalition and other groups, including Greenpeace and the Coalition for a Garbage-Free San Mateo, have chided the authorities for allowing the construction of the new San Mateo Landfill in the said barangay in violation of an en banc decision by the Supreme Court.

In a decision penned by Justice Minita Chico-Nazario, the Supreme Court on 13 December 2005 ordered the permanent closure of the old San Mateo landfill managed by the Metro Manila Development Authority, underscoring the fact that the waste facility “has adversely affected its environs and sources of water should always be protected.”

The landmark decision upheld the ban on the construction and operation of landfills or any waste disposal facility that will detrimentally affect environmentally-critical resources such as aquifers, groundwater reservoirs and watershed areas.

In lieu of polluting dumps and landfills, Buklod Tao and the EcoWaste Coalition are pushing for the enforcement of best practices in people-driven ecological waste management, excluding the wasteful and climate warming open burning and dumping of discards.

as of 02/17/2009 12:15 PM
Source - www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/metro-manila/02/16/09/green-groups-sue-san-mateo-officials-dumping

[Slazh Webmaster]

Hi Hirolion,

thanks for the news update. Please give us follow up news on this matter again ha para updated kami sa mga nangyayari dyan sa bayan natin.

thanks again.

slazh

[hirolionheart]

Suit poised vs DENR over San Mateo landfill

By DJ Yap
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 01:03:00 03/12/2009

MANILA, Philippines – An environment group has vowed to file a citizen’s suit against Environment Secretary Lito Atienza for approving the operations of the contested sanitary landfill in San Mateo town in Rizal province.

Members of Mamamayan Laban sa Tambakan ng Basura sa San Mateo (LabanTambakan), a separate group from the Coalition for a Garbage-Free San Mateo, said they would take their case against Atienza to the Environmental Task Force of the Office of the Ombudsman.

The group said the dump could “pollute aquifers or water sources which also connect to the Abuab and Marikina Rivers, leading to the Laguna Lake,” and that Atienza also failed to consider the fact that it is located in an area prone to landslides.

[hirolionheart]

Repost ko lang ito...

Mula sa binalita ni Arman Lim sa Guestbook ng Batangsanmateo - www.anvilbook.com/guestbook.php?batangsanmateo
Environmentalists Cite Risks in Rizal Town

By DJ Yap
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 02:15:00 04/27/2009

MANILA, Philippines -- Environmentalists have warned that the continuing exploitation of the natural resources in San Mateo town, Rizal province, could lead to disasters and the risks were exacerbated by the town’s vulnerability to landslides and erosions.

In a statement, the People’s Response for the Protection of the Environment of San Mateo (Protect San Mateo) said the protected forests of the town and nearby municipalities would be in danger due to the operations of a contested sanitary landfill and ongoing real estate development projects in the area.

It noted that the town was “naturally vulnerable to landslides and erosions,” based on a study conducted by the University of the Philippines’ National Institute of Geological Sciences, following the disaster that struck the Cherry Hills subdivision in nearby Antipolo City in August 1999.

Scores of people were killed while many others were reported missing when a landslide toppled several houses in Cherry Hills, which was built on a geologically risky area.

Protect San Mateo said that as early as 1997, a Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Environment Impact Assessment Review Committee found out that 82 percent of a 677-hectare property in the town, which was the site of a real estate project, had “severe to very severe soil erosion.”

Despite this, the DENR gave the project developer an environmental compliance certificate, it added.

In a convention held last week in Banaba village, which was attended by around 500 residents, the group vowed to stop the exploitation of natural resources in San Mateo and neighboring towns.

At the same time, it urged the DENR to revoke the permit it had issued to San Mateo Sanitary Landfill Development Corp. (SMSLDC) which, the group said, had “committed crimes against the environment of San Mateo and the rest of Rizal.”

The SMSLDC is the operator of the contested landfill, which according to environmentalists, is located inside a forest production area and adjacent to a forest protected area.

Source - newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/regions/view/20090427-201574/Environmentalists-cite-risks-in-Rizal-town

Yung real estate na tinutukoy sa artikulo ay ang Timberland Heights na proyekto ng Filinvest Land Inc.

[hirolionheart]

Tapos punta naman tayo sa positive side of this story... Para balanse ;D
Mas naunang balita nga lang ito dun sa ni-repost ko dahil ngayon ko lang nahanap ito.

Recycling hub key to metropolitan waste management

By Gigi Muñoz David
Manila Standard Today
March 30, 2009 Monday

What greenies oppose as a threat to the ecosystem is one option to save Metro Manila from environmental disaster through a safety-engineered waste recycling hub now operating in San Mateo, Rizal.

Mayor Jose Rafael Diaz told Standard Today that his town was hosting the first conveyorized material recovery facility that would also generate income and employment among other benefits without any collateral damage.

“The MRF will be constructed like a factory to accommodate around 2,500 sorters on three shifts per day,” he said, noting that the entire worksite would be enclosed in a warehouse-type of structure.

Lawyer Andy Santiago, president of the San Mateo Sanitary Landfill and Development Corp., said in practice, a household disposes 75 percent of domestic solid waste for pick up by garbage collectors.

“With the 75 percent, at least 60 percent can still be salvaged and only 15 percent residual waste goes to the landfill. Marami talaga ang matutulungan from the recyclables they will be getting [many would benefit from recycling],” Santiago said during a briefing at the site in Pintong Bukawe.

Diaz said activists criticizing the sanitary landfill were barking up the wrong tree because they referred to old records and San Mateo has since been rezoned.

Not a few open source users would agree that a google map could be edited and modified by placing markings and overlays that are largely unauthenticated.

Longtime resident Eddie Bancifra, of Barangay Maly, said his village had no dump as described by outsiders.

“Sa ibang lugar ’yun [It’s at another place],” he said, pointing to the direction of Pintong Bukawe.

A former village peace officer, Bancifra tends a vegetable patch and looks forward to livelihood out of the landfill, which Santiago describes as a model in solid waste management for local governments.

“We are making sure that the mistakes of Smokey Mountain and Payatas will not be repeated here,” he said.

Smokey Mountain in Tondo, Manila, got its name from the pile of garbage that in time grew into an oversized mound of festering refuse which scavengers colonized.

Payatas in neighboring Quezon City is still being used but more of a controled dump at present.

According to Santiago, the San Mateo landfill was conceived to make the surroundings fit for mixed-use development to cover residential, recreational and commercial purposes.

A first-term mayor, Diaz said this early he has been receiving inquiries on possible ventures from abroad.

“A group of 4x4 off-roaders are keen on opening a circuit here,” he said, noting that mountain bikers have been pedaling up and down San Mateo’s mountainous terrain outside the Marikina watershed and protected areas.

An environmental lawyer himself, Santiago said he agreed to lead the company only after he was fully convinced that all requirements under Republic Act 9003 have been met.

“We are in full compliance with the Ecological Solid Waste Management Program Act of 2001,” he said.

“Our own road is opening up opportunities,” Santiago added, citing private lot owners have started to develop their properties.

“Ripraps are being placed by experienced workers that handled projects on Kennon Road and Marcos Highway,” said Santiago, specifying that tree-planting would run parallel to construction.

At a nursery near the leachate pond, he showed mahogany seedlings bought by the company.

“The place would be ideal for an eco-park as well,” said Santiago, describing the landfill as a catalyst to attract long-term investments.

For Diaz, the protesters were blocking what the townsfolk regarded as a boon to the local economy.

“They want to sow fear. My family’s lineage goes back to pre-hispanic times,” he said, insisting that his forebears were native settlers and that he—more than the outsiders—had a vital stake in the locality.

Santiago said more than enough safeguards have been built into the system such as the leachate catchment for treating liquid gathering in the multi-layered landfill.

Diaz says he is on the right track along with the full backing of the Rizal capitol and the blessings of the Antipolo archdiocese to which San Mateo belongs.

“With these developments, we will be able to show to other localities that having a landfill is not a bad idea. In fact, we are positive that we will be able to attract more investors because garbage is not a problem in our town.”

Source - www.manilastandardtoday.com/?page=police2_mar30_2009

[St. Expeditus]

Maganda naman pala ang plano tungkol dito sa sanitary landfill. sana lang magkaroon lagi ng information dissemination gaya ng ginagawa ng municipal government including mayor Paeng himself, para hindi misleading yung mga informations na nakukuha natin.

madalas sila sa ibat-ibang barangay para ipaalam sa mga tao ang kagandahan ng proyektong ito. bakit hindi natin bigyan ng chance?