Alarmed over smelly liquid

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga — Local leaders have expressed alarm over a dark and foul-smelling liquid from a still unknown source flowing through the San Fernando River.

"The pollutant is coming from the north, flowing westward along the San Fernando River in Barangay San Jose. The liquid is quite dark and produces unbearable stench in the neighborhood," said Frank Mangulabnan, chairman of the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan.

In Masantol town, Vice Mayor Bajun Lacap also made similar observations, saying the dark liquid was spotted when a tropical depression dumped heavy rains in the province two weeks ago.

"I suspect that the company responsible for the pollutant took advantage of the rainy weather and dumped its wastes in local waters in an effort to lessen the impact of its wastes," Lacap said.

Mangulabnan and Lacap appealed to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to look into the pollutant, fearing that it might endanger the health of local folk and ruin the livelihood of small fishermen.

The Department of Public Works and Highways is currently spending millions of pesos from a P3.5-billion loan from the Japan International Cooperation Agency for various projects intended to ease the flow of inland water channels into the Manila Bay.