Group calls for abolishment of EMB

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    ANGELES CITY – A multi-sectoral group has called for the abolishment of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources-Environmental Management Bureau (DENR-EMB) for failing to address environment concerns here and in nearby Porac town.

    Ruperto Cruz, chair of the Pinoy Gumising Ka Movement (PGKM), lashed at DENR-EMB Regional Director Lormelyn Claudio saying that for the past seven years the agency has failed to address pollution problems caused by piggery and poultry farms in Angeles City and Porac town.

    “Walang nagbago,” Cruz said, adding that the EMB’s policies “run contrary to President Benigno Aquino III’s ‘pagbabago’ administration.”

    Cruz noted that Aquino’s State of the Nation Address (SONA) focused on a government “that is more effective, proactive and a responsive bureaucracy.”

    “The Aquino administration is bent on eradicating laggards in government,” Cruz said.

    He also said the PGKM has been advocating the regulation of piggery poultry farms in Angeles City and the municipality of Porac town which have been the subject of numerous complaints by residents and business establishments in the area.

    He said the indiscriminate disposal of animal wastes and the dubious operations of the farms have, for years, caused death and sickness among affected residents.

    The PGKM, Cruz said, has held countless dialogue with the EMB for the past seven years.

    He also criticized the agency saying it “has no intention on their part to submit the requested list of piggery and poultry farms that have complied with biodigester and waste water treatment facilities.”

    “Many residents have already died from respiratory sicknesses. Why are they indifferent and insensitive to these cases?” lamented Cruz.

    He added that “too many stories and exposes have been published and broadcasted in the media but still, no action has been taken.”

    “The PGKM has been wondering that despite the flak thrown at the EMB, Claudio has not acted on the problem. Could she be on the take from these piggery and poultry farms?” Cruz asked.

    He added that aside from air pollution, the swarms of flies are also putting the health of residents at risk.

    “Way back in 1993, former President Cory Aquino and her entire family were witnesses to this as they were plagued by a swarm of flies in a visit here during a furniture expo,” Cruz revealed.

    He said the former President was guest of honor of a furniture and handicraft exhibit launched by Cruz in 1993. The President, according to Cruz, even had difficulty eating her lunch because of the swarms of flies that pestered her and the rest of the event’s participants.

    “Tita Cory was embarrassed. Nilalangaw pati mga furniture,” Cruz said.

    “If she (Claudio) cannot do her job well then she has to resign,” he added.



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