Compostela mayor-elect seeks closure of tire recycling firm

CEBU, Philippines - Compostela vice mayor and mayor-elect Joel Quiño will be shutting down the controversial tire recycling factory in Barangay Tamiao, which has been the subject of complaints of air pollution, come July 1 when he formally assumes office.

Quiño, the municipal council’s presiding officer, along with councilor Tessa Paradiang-Cang have been lobbying before the Environmental Management Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) for its closure.

Mayor Ritchie Wagas has given the factory the permit to operate even without proper consultation from the residents and approval from the municipal council.

“When mayor-elect Joel Quiño assumes this July 1, first thing he will do is to order for the closure of that factory,” Cang told The FREEMAN.

Residents of the area are complaining because the factory’s smoke from the burning of tires has made their children suffer of persistent cough and asthma. The factory operates near a river that separates the towns of Liloan and Compostela.

Cang said that children near the area often get sick and that groundwater in their area is already yellowish.

Senen Ouano, a resort owner in Barangay Cabadiangan, said their guests have been complaining against the smell of burning tires and black soot particles in the smoke.

The Union Tyres, which is owned by a Taiwanese national who is married to a Filipina, has been operating since 2008. The residents said the factory has been emitting black smoke and foul odor that cause dizziness, headaches, and even triggering pneumonia attacks among children and adults alike.

The residents are accusing Wagas of favoring the tire plant because he issued a mayor’s permit to the firm even if it had not acquired an Environmental Certificate Clearance from the DENR office.

Last February, Quiño, Cang, and some members of the council went to the DENR for a technical conference with the management of Union Tyres Philippines where the firm agreed to temporarily stop the operation of its Compostela site pending the investigation being conducted by the DENR.

The agreement was signed by Luzminda Taboada, the co-owner of the firm, and witnessed by the firm’s consultant and designated pollution control officer Alan Dinampo, Quiño and Cang.

Union Tyres applied for an ECC last April 22, 2009 but it remains an application “due to non-compliance of certain substantial documents.” 

Residents said the firm did not follow the agreement as it continues to operate until nowxx . (FREEMAN NEWS)