An Open Letter to the DENR Secretary

Hon. Jose Atienza
DENR Secretary
Republic of the Philippines

Sir,

Good Morning.

I was wondering whether you are aware of the fact that the construction of the Angono Dumpsite was initiated under the administration of the former Mayor of Angono, who is now Assistant Secretary of DENR, Gerardo V. Calderon.

The dumpsite was recently closed (January 2008) by the current Mayor of Angono, Aurora Villamayor, after six years of continuous violation of certain provisions under Republic Act 9003 particularly Chapter VI, Section 37 and Section 48, subsection (9), (10), and especially (16) - the dilemma of the current Angono dumpsite near our precious Laguna Lake.

I find it disturbing that current news media reports inflict upon the new administration of Angono the whole blame of the Angono Dumpsite while the one who created it, who perpetuated the dumpsite's existence, goes unpunished. Correcting this injustice is one of the main reasons as to why I write this open letter, Honorable Secretary. If the current administration of Angono initiated the construction of the said Angono dumpsite, I see no reason as to why it should not be criticized. But such is not the case.

I also would like to ask, given the limited amount of money local governments get from the national budget pie, how can the local government of Angono bear the burden of cleaning up the Angono dumpsite given six years of unceasing collection and disposal of unsegregated wastes. Surely, one cannot expect to clean an open dumpsite after six years of accumulated and unsegregated wastes within six months, can we, Honorable Secretary?

Sir, I believe that you wish to promote the common good for our environment. But I pray that you do not surround yourself with incompetency and lack of care in the person of unqualified appointees that are supposed to protect our precious environment, not to mention allow no scrutiny of an individual's background regarding their stance towards eco-friendly waste management.

Former Angono Mayor and now Assistant DENR Secretary Calderon has received numerous cleanliness awards in the nine years of his leading Angono; that I cannot deny and yes, I wish to praise. Nonetheless, one must doubt his capacity of enforcing environmental laws if we are to look back into his management of Angono waste management system, which in his last two terms as Mayor failed to halt or even suspend dumping garbages near our precious lake - a clear violation of Republic Act 9003 chapter VI, section 48, subsection (16).

As such, I suggest more strict scrutiny on the credibility and appointment of officials in performing the office they will hold. It is unthinkable for DENR officials to have histories of violating an environmental law in this magnitude and for indeed, it does disservice to the mandate of the executive department tasked to promote and protect our precious environment.

Regards,