By Czarina Nicole Ong-Ki Several local officials from Bataan and Albay have been slapped with complaints before the Office of the Ombudsman yesterday morning for violations of the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000. The National Solid Waste Management Commission (NSWMC) of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) filed the first complaint against former Limay mayor Lilver Roque of Bataan, former municipal planning and development officer Romario Panangui, former municipal environment and natural resources officer Randy Cacho, and General Services Office chief Engr. Danilo for two counts of Section 37 in relation to Section 48(9) of R.A. 9003, otherwise known as the Ecological Waste Management Act of 2000. The second complaint for the same violation was filed against Tabaco Mayor Cielo Krisel Lagman-Luistro of Albay and city environment and natural resources officer Reynold Martinez. The complaints were for the operation of open dumpsites. In the first complaint, it was revealed that the NSWMC received reports regarding the operation of open dumpsites at Barangay St. Francis I, Limay, Bataan and at Barangay Alangan, Limay, Bataan. The NSWMC then wrote letters to the local officials and asked for an explanation. Roque, for his part, reportedly tried to exculpate himself from any fault. But the complaint stressed that "the fact remains, during his tenure as mayor, Limay used its purported transfer station as an open dumpsite." "Worse, after the closure of the open dumpsite at Sitio Mamala, Barangay St. Francis I, Limay, Bataan, the municipality opened another dumpsite at Barangay Alangan, Limay, Bataan," the complaint added. The second complaint is regarding the operation of an open dumpsite at Barangay San Vicente, Tabaco, Albay. The city even constructed two temporary residual containment areas (TRCAs). The complaint stressed that this was not the first offense faced by Lagman-Luistro for violation of the Solid Waste Management Act of 2000, since she already has a pending complaint before the Office of the Ombudsman docketed as OMB-L-A-17-0648. "This complaint is executed to show everyone that the NSWMC is serious in its role of seeing to it that R.A. 9003 is strictly complied with, especially by the local government officials," the complaint read. During an interview after the filing, Undersecretary for Solid Waste Management and Local Government Unit Concerns Benny Antiporda revealed that they conducted a surprise inspection in Limay, where they discovered that there was an open dumpsite. When the former mayor was summoned, Antiporda said that he did not even bother to come. He only sent his staff to explain; and unfortunately, the explanation was not "credible" for the DENR. On the other hand, Antiporda said they filed the second complaint against the incumbent Tabaco officials due to their "habitual" operation of illegal dumpsites. He admitted that the penalty is light for violation of the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000, but the officials will face suspension upon the filing of the complaint. "Ang importante malaman nila, pag sinira nila yung ating kalikasan, hahabulin pa rin natin sila. Maliit man o malaki ang sentensya, hahabulin natin sila, (It's important that they know that if they destroy our environment, we will go after them. No matter how heavyt or light the sentence is, we will still go after them)," he said.