CH says eco group is party to blame for garbage woes

CEBU, Philippines - Clarify and quantify your points.

This was the response of the Cebu City Solid Waste Management Board (SWMB) to a notice to sue (NTS) sent by a group of environmental advocates last month.

The group earlier complained at how the city allegedly disregarded the solid waste problems, and threatened to sue the city government if no action is taken 30 days after receipt of the January 20 letter.

The letter was signed by ecology lawyer Gloria Estenzo-Ramos along with Jose Aaron Pedrosa, Jr., Clarissa Beth Degamo, Haide Amigable, Teodorico Navea, Nally Murillo, and Emmanuel Amistad.  The seven-page response, dated March 12, was addressed to Ramos. It was signed by SWMB Presiding Officer lawyer Janeses Ponce.

Ponce, who represented the chairman Mayor Michael Rama, clarified three points raised in the NTS.

According to Ponce, it “is sweeping generalization and the statement, without using any comparative yardstick, is a mere subjective opinion.”

He said that the city’s No Segregation, No Collection policy was never lifted since April 1, 2011.

Ponce pointed back the blaming finger at the group, reminding them of the deferred waste to energy (WTE) project which was approved by the Clean Development Mechanism-United Nations’ Framework Convention on Climate Change (CDM-UNFCCC) at “no financial burden” for the government.

“Unfortunately, your group managed to demonize the proposed WTE project by branding it as an ‘incineration plant’ before the media and the public when you knew for a fact that there was nothing in the proposed project that ever involved any incineration or burning in the process. It was just sheer dishonesty on your part,” Ponce added. (FREEMAN)