Caloocan folk decry factory pollution

Some 200 residents of a residential subdivision in Caloocan City have decried the continued operation of a factory producing exhaust mufflers for motor vehicles as hazardous to their health and well-being.

The residents complained that the owners of the Rockford firm which is engaged in the manufacture of all kinds of metal exhaust pipes, have been particularly indifferent to their plight and operates with impunity despite petitions to city authorities, and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) for its transfer to a more appropriate area as early as February this year.

They claimed that the authorities concerned have been sitting on the issue for months without taking any positive action to alleviate their plight. "We are, at this point, constrained to think that a collusion, for certain financial considerations, exist between them and the firm’s owners," a resident, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said.

The residents’ charges have also been bolstered by a letter of the barangay chairman sent to the DENR on Feb. 18 complaining of incessant noise which allegedly reaches "intolerable" levels seriously affecting their health. The letter also complained of "unsanitary and hazardous disposal of toxic waste" by the company.

"My barangay is purely residential in nature and complaining residents believe that the subject establishment be relocated the soonest so as not to endanger their lives further," said Nestor Samson, barangay chairman.