Residents oppose Manila's dumping of garbage in San Mateo sanitary landfill
By Nel Andrade
Residents urged San Mateo, Rizal Mayor Bartolome “Omie” Rivera, Jr. to take immediate action against the dumping of garbage coming from the city of Manila into the sanitary landfill located in the municipality.
Messages of support have poured in for Rivera after he announced his opposition to the garbage transfer from the capital city.
In the comment section of Mayor Rivera’s official Facebook page, over 1,000 netizens have posted their reactions, majority of them urging the mayor to do a concrete move to block the Manila City government’s dumping of garbage into the New San Mateo Sanitary Landfill.
One netizen, Alicia Josef, said the residents want a true, straightforward, and immediate action by the local government executives of their town against the dumping of waste by Metro cities.
The Cjc Legal Team has enumerated the powers of the mayor based on the Local Government Code of 1991 (Republic Act 7160). It said Rivera can enforce all laws and ordinances relative to the governance of the municipality that includes the general supervision and control over programs and services including environmental protection and sanitation.
It also suggested that the mayor may mobilize the local police force to prevent the entry of garbage trucks coming from Metro Manila, considering that no prior coordination or approval was secured from the mayor for the dumping of garbage in the municipality, to enforce lawful orders to protect public welfare peace, order and health.
A certain Kat Sayam also specified the legal bases for the municipal government of San Mateo and its residents to refuse Metro Manila’s garbage.
Teresa San Jose Cayetano urged Mayor Rivera and Representative Jojo Garcia to take action against the dumping of waste, as they are the duly elected officials who have sworn to protect the welfare of their constituents.
On August 27, Mayor Rivera issued an open letter to the people of San Mateo to inform them of the town government’s opposition to the dumping of Manila’s waste claiming that the local government was not informed of the sudden action as announced by the Metro Manila Development Authority.