Help spread the truth on dumping of solid wastes in Palompon – lawyer

CEBU CITY – A lawyer has appealed to the public to help “spread the truth in Palompon” amid the protracted legal battle over the alleged illegal dumping of chicken and other solid wastes at the Palompon Protected Watershed Forest Reserve in Palompon, Leyte.

AN excavation is done in an area in Palompon, Leyte to check possible dumping of solid wastes. (Contributed photo)

“I am appealing to all our media friends: Help us spread the truth in Palompon. Help us fight the injustice against our citizens. Help us push our government officials to do their job in protecting the environment and the interests of our people,” Lloyd Surigao said in a statement.

Surigao said legal action should be taken against Palompon Mayor Ramon Oñate and his wife Lourdes, the owners of the DBSN Farm Agriventures Inc. which is allegedly the source of the toxic wastes that contaminated waterways in Palompon.

The lawyer added that tons of toxic wastes excavated from the site of the DBSN poultry farm in San Joaquin in Palompon is glaring proof that environmental laws have been violated.

Surigao said residents of San Joaquin, who he represents in a criminal case pending before the Regional Trial Court Branch (RTC) 45 here, scored a legal victory when the court issued a search warrant on the site of the DBSN poultry farm where tons of toxic wastes were allegedly dug up by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR)-8 on January 21.

His clients, he said, sought court intervention to stop the operations of DBSN because “they can no longer tolerate their horrible living conditions in San Joaquin spawned by the illegal dumping of hazardous solid wastes from the poultry farm that has polluted some areas of Barangays San Joaquin and Lat-osan.”

“The decision of RTC Branch 45 permitting the search and excavation of several areas of the Palompon Protected Watershed being occupied by the poultry farm is a huge victory for our clients – regular citizens who have taken a staunch stand against the mayor of their town, whose family owns DBSN. These people are outranked in power and influence, and yet they stood their ground to defend their survival,” Surigao said.

But the legal counsel said their camp expects the court battle to become protracted and drag on for years because “this is a battle between logic and lies.”

Surigao said the excavation in three areas pointed by their witnesses yielded solid wastes which were proof that these were dumped in the area.

He accused the mayor of being inconsistent in his defense of his poultry farm’s operations.

The mayor had invited congressmen to conduct an inspection of the DBSN site to disprove the allegations of illegal dumping of chicken and other solid wastes.

But Surigao said the mayor blocked the regional DENR office from checking the area.

“He deliberately used LGU vehicles to block the barangay road and even sent his employees as human barricades. Mayor Oñate’s words contradict his action,” he added.

Surigao noted the statement of the mayor in an interview that no part of Palompon town has been declared as a protected area, a false claim which he said is denied by the existence of Presidential Proclamation 212 which created the Palompon Watershed Forest Reserve.

“This is the same PWFR that he used when the LGU drafted its CLUP (Comprehensive Land Use Plan), the same PWRF used as reference in the FLUP (Forest Land Use Plan) that his office filed with the DENR-8. So, his statements are inconsistent and illogical,” he stressed.