BY ERWIN ‘AMBO’ DELILAN
THE Bing Leonardia-Albee Benitez’s duel for the mayoral post in Bacolod City now dwells on the “basura” brouhaha.
The Albee group, on Facebook (FB), keeps on ranting and blaming Bing for allegedly doing nothing.
Bing’s camp’s simple answer: “You’re barking up the wrong tree!”
Then, Albee stressed, “Dugay na ang problema sa basura. Indi na mag-gana ang daan nga pamaagi. We need game-changing solutions that leverage innovation, science and technology. We need efficient sustainable methods of garbage disposal that do not harm the public health and the environment.”
Is that so?
Let’s take a look at the past. Albee once dreamed of putting up a waste to energy (WTE) plant in the 3rd District of Negros Occidental when he was still congressman from 2010-2019.
Question: What happened to this plan?
Well, I was privileged to secure a copy of his State of the District Report Magazine (2010-2013). There, it showed Albee’s plan to establish a WTE in Barangay Alacaygan in EB Magalona town. Garbage from Victorias, Silay, EB Magalona, Murcia and Talisay will be dumped and processed there to produce electricity. Such will be managed through the Metro Third Unified Solid Waste Management Program (MTUSWMP) under his congressional office.
Albee contracted the technical working group (TWG) of Mackay Green Energy (MGE) to conduct feasibility study. Third District mayors inked a memorandum of agreement (MOA) for this project.
Sad to say, Albee completed his three terms in 2019 sans fulfillment of this promise.
What went wrong? Why did Albee fail?
Then, there’s silence in the entire district.
Worse, localities there were left with no choice but to come up with their respective sanitary landfills, or they’ll be penalized by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) for non-compliance with the Republic Act 9003 or the Solid Waste Management (SWM) law.
The very recent to comply is Silay City. Mayor Mark Golez told me that next month they’ll be opening their sanitary landfill in Hacienda Nalinao, Barangay Kapitan Ramon. Such, which includes a landfill cell, administration building, materials recovery facility (MFR), toxic vault, composting facility and garage wash area, is sprawling on a three-hectare land area donated by his father, Jimmy Golez.
‘BLESSING IN DISGUISE’
On the other hand, the Albee camp posted on FB the letter-invite of Albee through SURE Global W2W Philippines, Inc. (dated Aug. 22, 2016) for Bing to attend a meeting in Silay on Sept. 1, 2016. The meeting was supposed to discuss the waste study both in the 3rd District and Bacolod, which shall serve as the basis for the proposed WTE. But Bing reportedly “snubbed” the invite.
Was Bing right in snubbing that meeting? And, who’s Albee for Bing six years ago? Well, let’s put things in a proper perspective now.
Bing’s reluctance on Albee’s proposal was, perhaps, a “blessing in disguise” in shielding Bacolod from hosting WTE. Per research, it ain’t a boon, but rather a bane to any would-be host community.
In his article published by www.cag.org.in on Jan. 11, 2017, Bharath Kumar, consultant on Chennai’s Waste Management Crisis, enumerated both the advantages and disadvantages of WTE.
He said WTE can reduce the volume of wastes significantly, produce electricity, eliminate leachate and methane gas in the landfill, and the ashes produced can be used in the construction works.
But, warned Kumar, WTE can also cause severe health consequences, job loss and impacts climate change.
Just this Monday (Jan.24, 2022), www.zerowasteeurope.eu also published a story on WTE. It underscored that incineration via WTE might appear to remove the visible waste problem in the short term, but also creates an invisible crisis in the long term. Thus, environmentalists insist that WTE is just a “false solution” to garbage problem. It violates Republic Act (RA) No. 8749 or the Clean Air Act, they claimed.
Stressed Rei Panaligan of Plastic-Free Philippines Project (PFPP), WTE transforms waste into harmful substances such as dioxin and furan. In a medical study, both are harmful to humans. Dioxin can cause severe headaches, vision and heart problems, among others.
Furan causes skin, immuno and neuro toxicities, and affects human’s reproductive health.
‘BANDAID’ SOLUTION
Interfacing Development Interventions for Sustainability (IDIS) executive director Mark Penaliver also stressed that WTE is just a “bandaid” solution to waste problem.
Rara Ada of Philippine Movement for Climate Justice (PMCJ) articulated that instead of solving waste problem, WTE causes another problem.
WTE in Singapore now is tagged as “culprit” of carbon emissions.
Per study, one ton of burnt waste also releases about 1.1 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere, thus, contributing to greenhouse gas emissions and worsens climate change.
Both IDIS and PMCJ are strongly opposing the proposed WTE in Davao City by the City Government of Kitakyushi in Japan.
Davao and Kitakyushi are sister cities. For three years now, the proposed WTE in Davao remains controversial still.
Before, Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio was optimistic in pursuing the project amid opposition from different quarters. Now, it is as if she flip-flopped.
The mayor reverted to DENR Japan’s proposal for a more comprehensive study.
On June 30, 2021, DENR issued Department Administrative Order (DAO) No. 2019-21 with “Updated Water Quality Guidelines (WQG) and General Effluent Standards (GES) for Selected Parameter” as main subject.
But five months after, such DAO was challenged at the Supreme Court by the Philippine Earth Justice Center (PEJC). It’s perceived to be leading to welcoming WTE in the country.
Thus, PECJ wants the High Court to declare it as void, stressing, “it’s invalid and will result in grave violations of the people’s Right to Health and Right to a Balanced and Healthy Ecology under the 1987 Constitution.”
Such DAO will also cause “irreparable harm” to humans and environment, it added.
‘TOO EXPENSIVE’
Meanwhile, WTE plants, stressed Kumar, are “too expensive” to build, and skilled staff are required to operate and maintain them.
While no modern technologies yet can arrest the harmful gases emitted by WTE, cautioned Kumar.
Department of Science and Technology (DOST), however, still wants to give it a try in the country.
Last October, the University of the Philippines – Los Baños (UPLB) in Laguna launched its 25-kilowatt (kW) WTE via combustion process for solid waste. It’s just a mini-WTE just for research purposes. It is aimed at exploring the potentials of WTE technology in moving towards energy independence and environmental sustainability.
This, as waste generation in the country has been rapidly increasing. It’s a major problem not just in Bacolod, but also in other thickly-populated areas in the country and even around the globe. Its main causes include speedy population growth, urbanization and economic development.
But amid waste problems, environmentalists still continue advocating the strict implementation of proper waste segregation. Discipline, they stressed, is still the key to an effective waste segregation. And it must start in every home.
‘PROVIDENTIAL’
In essence, therefore, Bing’s act of “snubbing” Albee’s invite six years ago might be “providential”. Bing may have been “spiritually guided” not to make Bacolod be the next “tophet” on earth.
Deciphering the pros and cons of WTE, I can say that what Albee wants for Bacolod’s garbage is really “far from easy” on Bing’s part.
Our environment, as the Bible (in 1 Corinthians 4:2) says, “Moreover, it is required of steward that they be found trustworthy.”
Thus, Bing, being the father of nearly 700,000 Bacolodnons, is legally and morally bound to protect his dominion and people from any harm (just in case).
To cap, it could be that for Albee, WTE is “too good to waste” but for Bing, “it’s just a waste of time”./PN
