NEWSFLASH

RIZAL DUMPSITE CLOSURE LOOMS; ERAP PROMISES SOLUTION

San Mateo, Rizal, July 8, 1999 - Officials and residents of San Mateo and neighboring Rizal towns stood are unflinching in their position that the San Mateo Sanitary Landfill must be closed on July 20, and they are counting on President Estrada to fulfill a campaign promise that the town will stop being the dumpsite for Metro Manila's garbage.

Only the intervention of President Estrada can keep the sanitary landfill located in barangay Pintong Bocaue, San Mateo open.

"We are banking on the promise of the President during the election campaign that he will help rid Antipolo of the garbage landfill," said an Antipolo official.

Rodriguez Mayor Rafaelito San Diego says Rizal province residents are aware of the Metro Manila garbage crisis that will result if the landfill is shut down, but he stressed that the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) chaired by Jejomar Binay has had enough time to find alternative sites.

San Diego said it is time for the province of Rizal to stop being the "shock absorber" of the garbage problem of Metro Manila, as he warned of the disastrous effect of garbage leachate on the watershed areas, the Wawa River in sitio Ningan and in Marikina.

"We are opposed to the landfill operation. First, because we are neighbors of San Mateo; second, because of its ill effects on our watershed; and third, because of the MMDA's plan to expand the landfill to at least 115 hectares more in the Rodriguez area," San Diego said.

The town mayor added they will be joining the residents and officials of San Mateo and Antipolo City in setting up road blocks on July 20 to prevent MMDA trucks from entering.

San Mateo Mayor Crispin Santos vowed earlier to set up new road blocks on the highways and streets leading to the landfill to stop the trucks. The roadblock strategy is supported by Antipolo officials who recall the success of a similar operation last January.

"It is crucial that the MMDA find a new dumpsite. Even Metro Manila towns and cites should start thinking of setting up their own municipal or city landfills to maintain control over the waste generated by their constituencies," San Diego said.

At Malacanang, President Joseph Estrada yesterday assured Metro Manila residents that his administration is now hammering out a solution to the problem concerning the continued use of a landfill in Rizal.

In his radio program Itawag Mo Kay Erap over dzRH, the President said Presidential Adviser on Economic Affairs Roberto Aventajado, who also chairs the Presidential Committee on Flagship Projects, and Chairman Jejomar Binay of the Metro Manila Development Authority are working hard to address this concern.

"Inaayos na po yan. Nag-uusap. Talaga pong malapit na pong maayos yan sapagka't yan po ay nasa ilalim ng ating Sec. Aventajado, under the flagship program (We are addressing the problem. A solution may be forthcoming. The matter is being handled by Sec. Aventajado under our flagship program)," Mr. Estrada said.

"Meron pong solusyon na nakita siya diyan, kasama si Chairman Binay (Aventajado and Binay have found a solution to that problem)," he noted.

The President said finding an efficient and environment-friendly garbage disposal system that would address the growing garbage problem in Metro Manila is among Aventajado's duties as head of the flagship projects.

"Kaya huwag po silang mag-alala at bibigyan po natin ng solusyon yang basura (Our people should stop worrying. We'll find a solution to the garbage problem soon)," Mr. Estrada said.

Mr. Estrada earlier said he ordered Aventajado to study new garbage disposal technologies in the United States, Germany, and Japan that the Philippine can adopt, and to submit a consolidated report of his research into these new technologies before the end of this year.

The President said he is aware of the magnitude of the garbage problem confronting Metro Manila as he recalled that his late father, Emilio Ejercito Sr., had warned of the possible extent of the garbage problem when he was still a city engineer in the 1950s.

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Reported by: Sol Jose Vanzi