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GREENPEACE Water Patrol activists on Monday investigated
a dump site in Angono, Rizal, which has taken over the
banks of Laguna Lake, and called on the government for
the strict enforcement of waste laws to protect the
country’s threatened freshwater sources.
As part
of the investigation, the activists procured water
samples in the vicinity, and placed a signpost with the
words “Our trash. Our water. Protect our water sources!”
to also remind the public, in time for Earth Day
tomorrow, that waste dumped on land eventually ends up
in the water that we use. The theme for this year’s
Earth Day in the Philippines is water protection.
“Illegal, open dumpsites have remapped the banks of
Laguna Lake, creating reclaimed areas built on the
filthy refuse of towns and cities, and slowly killing
one of the major freshwater bodies in our country. How
have we come to this? Clearly, there is a serious
shortcoming in the government’s enforcement of its own
environmental laws,” said Greenpeace toxics campaigner
Beau Baconguis.
“But
Greenpeace would also like to highlight this Earth Day
that this should be a call to action for all Filipinos
to adopt a more responsible attitude toward the waste
they generate and dispose. Through the simple practice
of responsible waste management at home, such as
segregation and composting of organic waste, we can be
part of the solution to the problem of garbage and water
pollution."
The
Laguna Lake Development Authority (LLDA) disclosed last
December that dumpsites in four municipalities—Paete and
Biñan, Laguna, and Angono and Taytay, Rizal—are located
close to
Laguna Lake’s
shores.
Meanwhile, 14 various dumpsites in other nearby towns
compound the lake’s water-pollution problem. Although
the LLDA has asked the concerned local government units
to implement the Ecological Waste Management Act of 2000
(RA 9003), the dumps continue to pollute the lake.
Toxic
leachate from the said garbage dumps are expected to
ooze into the lake for years to come, even after the
dumps are successfully closed.
The
dumps in Angono and Taytay, in particular, occupy the
lake’s waters in blatant violation of the Clean Water
Act of 2004 (RA 9275), and RA 9003. The Angono dumpsite
was supposedly declared closed by Mayor Aurora
Villamayor in January, but Greenpeace Water Patrol
investigations encountered garbage trucks delivering
fresh garbage to the site just a week ago. The Taytay
dumpsite, on the other hand, is still fully operational.
Laguna Lake,
also known as Laguna de Bay, is the country’s largest
lake, and the second-largest freshwater basin in
Southeast Asia. It is being eyed as a potential source
of potable water for Metro Manila. However, according
to the LLDA, the lake is in danger of dying in five
years if no steps are taken to improve its
fast-deteriorating water quality.
“Starting with the Angono dumpsite, Greenpeace is taking
samples of water within the lake as part of our larger
campaign, Project Clean Water, launched in October
2007. The project aims to bring people together toward
a common goal of safeguarding our water sources. We
intend to examine and expose the pollution levels of
various freshwater sources around the country. Through
this, we hope to catalyze much-needed action to reverse
the continuing decline of our water resources,” said
Baconguis. Greenpeace expects to release the partial
results of its investigations later this year.
Greenpeace is an independent, global campaigning
organization that acts to change attitudes and behavior
toward and to protect and conserve the environment, and
to promote peace. |
