We knew all along that we would face a major garbage problem at the start of 2001. As early as 1999, various quarters had warned that Metro Manila would face a garbage crisis once the San Mateo landfill and Payatas dump shut down. What did the government do? A presidential adviser was put in charge of the Greater Metro Manila Solid Waste Management Committee. If the committee came up with any particular measure to improve garbage collection and disposal in Metro Manila in the past year, we never saw it.
All that the government managed to accomplish was to extend the life of the San Mateo landfill by a few months. This time, the people of San Mateo and surrounding areas are refusing to budge. Under normal circumstances, President Estrada might have managed to charm the residents into accepting another extension. But in between fighting for his survival and trying to score brownie points with the poor through gifts and relief packages, he has no time to look into this stinking problem, which is probably not yet being felt by his families in the exclusive enclaves of Greenhills.
A court order has restrained the Metro Manila Development Authority from sending the garbage to a new landfill in Antique. What’s the director of the solid waste management program doing? Presidential adviser Robert Aventajado is busy fending off the latest accusations of impropriety against him, which is that one of his aides paid two Abu Sayyaf members to carry out a bombing campaign in Metro Manila.
While everyone is scratching his head, the garbage is piling up. Another crisis is upon us, and national leaders either can’t see it or don’t care.