Barangay heads blame minors for their trash problems

Cebu City's barangay officials have found a reason for their failure to stop the rampant throwing of garbage at undesignated places: Children in their barangays.

"Ang usa sa among problema mao nga daghang mga bata maoy sugoon pagpalabay sa mga basura, ang uban bayran sa ilang serbisyo. Sa bag-ong balaod karon, dili na mahimong dakpon ang mga bata," T. Padilla barangay captain Michael Ralota said in a radio interview yesterday.

Ralota and other barangay officials said they cannot apprehend these minors even if caught in the act of throwing garbage at the wrong place.

Residents in barangay Lorega-San Miguel were also found to have dumped their garbage by the roadside in front of the old city abattoir, which is just a few steps from the barangay hall.

The heads of the city's 80 barangays have reportedly failed to stop the improper disposal of garbage in their respective areas but only Apas barangay captain Clemente Rosales was charged at the city prosecutor's office for such an omission.

On July 2005, the city government created the Cebu City Environment Sanitation and Enforcement Team, composed of volunteers who have been tasked to apprehend people who will be caught throwing garbage in undesignated places.

This resulted in the apprehensions of at least 3,000 violators of the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act. The improper disposal of garbage, however, remains a problem to this day.

President Gloria Arroyo last May signed Republic Act 9344, which excludes minors from prosecution and incarceration even if they commit infractions of the law.

The same law however provides that once a minor offender will be arrested for committing a crime, authorities should bring them immediately to the nearest office of the Department of Social Welfare and Development. - Rene U. Borromeo