Rizal residents oppose landfill

Not in our backyard.

A group of residents of Rodriguez (formerly Montalban), Rizal asked the San Mateo Regional Trial Court yesterday to stop the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) from dumping garbage in their town.

After coordinating with Mayor Pedro Cuerpo, the MMDA is set to open tomorrow an "interim" sanitary landfill in Sitio Lukutan, Barangay San Isidro in Rodriguez.

The petition for a temporary restraining order (TRO) was filed by the Mamamayan ng Montalban Ayaw sa Basura (MMAB), represented by Dr. Pastor Cruz.

"Considering the urgency of enjoining defendants from proceeding with the implementation of their plan to commence the dumping of waste and garbage at Sitio Lukutan, Barangay San Isidro, Rodriguez, Rizal on Jan. 17, 2002, a temporary restraining order be issued immediately," read MMAB’s petition.

Respondents to the nine-page petition were: Cuerpo, MMDA Chairman Benjamin Abalos, and Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Heherson Alvarez.

Marikina City is also against the dumping of Metro Manila’s garbage in nearby Rodriguez for fear that dump trucks might scatter garbage on city streets. – Jose Rodel Clapano, Sheila Crisostomo