THIS is in response to the column of Mr. Erwin Ambo Delilan entitled “VMC in hot water anew” that was published May 13, 2021.
May we be allowed to respond to Mr. Delilan’s innuendo that VMC is in danger of being “tagged as the next polluter in northern Negros or the “greatest” violator of both Clean Air Act of 2020 (Republic Act No. 8749) and Clean Water Act of 2004 (RA No. 9275)?”
It is true that an Environment Management Bureau team from the Region under the office of Director Ramar Niel Pascua went unannounced to VMC to conduct the Ambient Air Quality Monitoring test last March 30, 2021.
The EMB team conducted these tests without our knowledge and only informed us after the tests were completed. The tests started at 1 p.m. and monitored every hour thereafter until 8 a.m. the following day, March 31, 2021. The monitoring equipment was set-up in various locations and one of these was at the residence of Remegio Soriano, the brother of Regoberto Soriano who was mentioned by your columnist as the author of the letter of complaint addressed to the Office of the President through Environment Sec. Roy Cimatu.
In fact, the instrument placed at the Soriano residence remained there until 8 a.m. the following day, or for a total of 19 hours, the hourly results of which passed the standard of 300mg/Ncm except the 7 p.m. hour which did slightly exceed the National Ambient Air Quality Guideline value for Source Specific Air Pollutants that registered at 358 mg/Ncm. This was not contextualized by Mr. Delilan who only pointed out that particular hour (7 p.m.) of a higher suspended particulate value out of 19 hours of total testing (from 1 p.m. – 8 a.m.) when the rest of the test passed the standards.
During our Technical Conference last April 30, other contributing factors on the exceedance of that 7 p.m. results was discussed, among which are the facts that:
Remegio Soriano’s residence is located along the highway of the subdivision (beside the road), and heavy traffic is usual on that hour for both north and southbound. Dusts from the road contribute to ambient air samples.
According to experts, wind speed and wind direction are also contributing factors as well.
We would like to stress that the said April 30 virtual conference was presided over by Atty. Arjun Calvo, Legal Officer of EMB R6. However, the main complainant, Regoberto Soriano, did not attend despite due notices.
Nonetheless, several and immediate measures were undertaken right away to solve this slight exceedance.
With regard to the distillery issue raised in that article, VMC has spent over P100 million to address environmental concerns, particularly on the reported foul odor around the distillery and the decision to do a plant shutdown last year was in fact made to hasten the implementation of our environmental measures.
VMC has invested in modern structures and technological processes to eliminate odor. This includes the installation of an Anaerobic Digester to lessen the presence of odor-causing bacteria in the slops by 60-70% and converting it to biogas; an Automatic Flaring System to eliminate odor-causing gases; and improvements in wastewater treatment methods at the aeration ponds such as filtration, aeration and dosing of enzymes to counteract the odor-causing chemical reaction in the digesters.
Additional units of aspirating surface aerators in the Aeration Ponds to help eliminate odor were also installed. Moreover, a fertilization program is in place where the slops by product are applied as alternative chemical fertilisers to farm lands, and as part of the company’s community programs, are given to nearby and willing farmers to use for their crops. This comes with an education program on the proper application of fertilizers to ensure better productivity yield and safety for the community. The fertilisers improve soil conditions and at the same time, reduce production costs and increase income of the farmers.
The last information drive was conducted from March 11-12, 2021 at seven locations in Manapla and Cadiz: Candelaria Farmer’s Association, Candelaria Agrarian Reform Cooperative, Hacienda Navidad, Barangay Purisima – Central Manapla, Barangay Chambery, Barangay Luna and Barangay Sicaba. A total of 147 participants attended this event.
On top of that, VMC has also been conducting tree planting activities in areas surrounding the industrial and natural polishing lagoons and aeration ponds to serve as natural air purifiers. It also established the multi-partite monitoring team (MMT) with the LGUs of Manapla and Cadiz in 2020 involving government officials, environmental agencies, health experts and members of the communities to work hand-in-hand in preserving the environment.
While this is no longer a requirement by the EMB, VMC believes this will set up a proper venue to raise and resolve issues immediately.
VMC remains committed to helping protect the environment and create value to the communities where it operates.
With this, we would like to extend our invitation to Mr. Delilan to please come and visit us to see for himself the improvements that we have implemented.
Thank you very much and more power to Panay News! – EMALYN C. APACIBLE, Head, Environment Conservation Dept., Victorias Milling Company, Inc., VMC Compound, JJ Ossorio St., Brgy. 16, Victorias City, Negros Occidenta
