Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Roy Cimatu on Tuesday ordered the closure of all open dumpsites in the country by end of March, 2021.
 
"Despite our significant gains, a great deal remains to be done because our volume of waste generation continues to grow. We must stop this trend," Cimatu said in his keynote message on the 20th year of the Republic Act 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000.
 
A total of 195 open dumpsites are still operating in the country, based on the latest data of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).
 
They are mostly in Western Visayas, Mimaropa, Central Visayas, Bicol region, and Davao region.
 
Meanwhile, there are already 189 established sanitary landfills in the country. 
 
The regions with the highest number of sanitary landfills are CALABARZON with 36, followed by Cagayan Valley (35), Ilocos region (33), Northern Mindanao (18), and Central Visayas (15). 
 
If there's a will, there's a way," DENR Undersecretary for Solid Waste Management and Local Government Units Concerns Benny Antiporda said in response to Cimatu's order.
 
Antiporda noted that 38 open dumpsites were closed down on January 25 alone. "If you are really serious in doing what the Secretary has told us, basically within one month kaya tapusin 'yan (it can be done in one month)," he said.
 
“Kapag hindi nila ginawa ang trabaho nila (if the LGUs will not do their job), then I will go to them personally (to close down the open dumpsites) just to show the Secretary na kaya naman pala ipasara sa loob lang ng ilang buwan (that it can be done in just a matter of months)," he added.
 
Under Section 37 of RA 9003, the establishment and maintenance of open dumpsites are strictly prohibited due to serious threat to the environment and public health.
 
Passed by the Philippine Congress on December 20, 2000 and subsequently approved by the Office of the President on January 26, 2001, RA 9003 provides the legal framework for the country’s systematic, comprehensive and ecological solid waste management program to ensure the protection of public health and environment. 
 
It seeks the creation of mechanisms and incentives to pursue an effective solid waste management at the local government levels.
 
The law calls for mandatory segregation of solid wastes; establishment of materials recovery facility; prohibition against the use of open dumpsites, littering in public places, open burning of solid waste, and squatting in open dumps and landfills; among others. 
 
"We are encouraging the LGUs to come up with legal sanitary landfills and partner with private companies rather than operate the sanitary landfill on there own because we do know that there is a problem with the procurement process," Antiporda said.
 
He pointed out that it is high time the LGUs be pressed to comply with the provisions of RA 9003.
 
The DENR, Antiporda said, will not hesitate to file charges against non-compliant cities and municipalities that continue to operate open dumpsites.