Rizal mayor takes local autonomy too far

I’m all for local autonomy. We should give local executives ample powers as well as the resources to uplift the quality of life of their constituents and help the communities they lead to achieve economic and social progress.

But the trouble with some of our politicians is that they treat public office as their own private fiefdom where they can pretty much do as they please. There is such a thing as carrying local autonomy too far—and in the wrong direction—that the rule of law is upended and the larger public interest is undermined.

Take the case of Mayor Pedro Cuerpo of Rodriguez municipality in Rizal. Rodriguez currently hosts two landfills—one operated by the municipality, the other by the province—where tons of trash from Metro Manila end up.

Last week, the Rizal provincial board and Gov. Casimiro Ynares III placed Cuerpo on preventive suspension for 60 days for “wanton disregard for competent authority” based on a complaint filed last year by the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) and garbage haulers. They said Cuerpo’s decision to raise garbage fees in the town was illegal. Ynares and Cuerpo had already been at loggerheads over control of the landfills.

Cuerpo had insisted on implementing a municipal order requiring users of the town’s sanitary landfills to pay a development exaction fee, a move considered as exceeding his authority and a clear violation of earlier agreements with the users, including the MMDA. Earlier, the municipal council had also passed a resolution rescinding its agreement to host the landfills and take in Metro Manila trash.

What Cuerpo had done was to take the law in his own hands and practically declare Rodriguez a distinct and separate “republic.” With his control over the municipal council and certain barangays in the vicinity of the landfill areas, he was able to thwart the moves of Ynares and the Rizal provincial government to operate another landfill adjacent to the existing one being operated by the municipality. He did this despite the appropriate clearances from the relevant agencies, including the municipal council. But how true is it that Cuerpo wanted to tap power from the methane gas from the trash? In other words, is he using his mandate as an elected official to run a private business?

A few days ago, Cuerpo mobilized some 500 to 700 of his supporters in a “garbage blockade” of the landfill area, blocking the road with their bodies, five trucks, mounds of soil and metal spikes.

It’s good, however, that the Rodriguez landfill has been reopened following a meeting between Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno and Cuerpo, thus averting a serious garbage crisis. Cuerpo cannot blithely ignore the public interest because a garbage crisis in Metro Manila will give the national government yet another controversy it can very well do without at this point. Cuerpo should use his powers judiciously and accept the decision of higher political authority with equanimity and grace. We cannot have local officials interpreting local autonomy every which way. This is a local issue with national implications, and I hope that it is resolved soon.

The bigger concern here, of course, is the environment. Environment Secretary Joselito Atienza laments the lack of an “acceptable world-class waste-disposal facility,” and he is right. News reports indicate that the department has already authorized the opening of a 20-hectare landfill in Norzagaray, Bulacan. This is a step in the right direction, but clearly the MMDA should come up with more permanent solutions to the very real problem of solid-waste management in the metropolis.

Bright prospects for Mindanao peace talks

US Ambassador Kristie Kenney’s visit to a stronghold of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) marks a milestone in ongoing efforts to forge peace in strife-torn Mindanao.

The Kenney visit, which she described as “private,” can only mean that the US government wants to speed things up and convince both sides that a comprehensive peace agreement would redound to the benefit of Muslim Mindanao, and enhance peace and stability in the region as a whole.

We can only surmise that in her meeting with the top leadership of the MILF, Kenney communicated to them the US government’s concern that the longer the talks are stalled, the more difficult it would be to rein in Abu Sayyaf and Jema’ah Islamiyah operatives whose preferred means of asymmetrical warfare is detonating powerful bombs that kill and maim innocent civilians. With the MILF finally agreeing to peace with the government, the Philippines would have one less thorn in its side, since it is at present waging a two-pronged anti-insurgency war, one against the communist-led New People’s Army and the other against Muslim separatists and terrorist groups. Both sides should endeavor to reach agreement on self-rule for Muslim Mindanao within the constitutional framework as soon as possible, if only to address the long-standing problem of abject poverty among Muslim Filipinos that gave rise to armed rebellion in the first place.

After four hours of deliberations late Tuesday, the conference committee tasked with consolidating two bills for the cheap and quality medicines bill was still in a deadlock.

The political implications of the ZTE-NBN scandal are difficult to forecast and may not even be as important as the ultimate economic fallout to the country.

Does “to invent” mean to create something out of nothing? That was the question posed to the panel of resource persons discussing the subject of patents and technology.

Alálaong bagá: People in thirst

In the Bible, thirst usually means more than just the physical need for water. Thirst can uncover deep faithlessness and insolence (Exodus 17:3-7). Likewise, slaking thirst can well indicate the wellspring of living water unto eternal life (John 4:4-42). The Third Sunday of Lent is to provide us with the opportunity to recommit ourselves to our choice for Christ.

About Town: Rizal mayor takes local autonomy too far

I’m all for local autonomy. We should give local executives ample powers as well as the resources to uplift the quality of life of their constituents and help the communities they lead to achieve economic and social progress.

Tax Law for Business: Here comes the taxman again!

In its desire to ride with the boom in the real- estate business, the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) has proposed a new regulation that would require the early payment of value-added tax (VAT) on real-estate transactions.

Reflections from the Mirror: The canonization of J-Lo?

Let us congratulate the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), particularly the Large Taxpayers Service, for having collected revenues in excess of last month’s collection. It has been reported that this month’s revenue collection amounted to P32.06 billion, higher than its goal of P30.59 billion.

Philip M. Lustre Jr.: The imperative for moral cleansing

Just like in any other soft state, corruption is a major political problem in the country. The entire nation has no choice but to engage in a very thorough but cathartic (or liberating) process of moral cleansing.