PORAC, Pampanga – The Pinoy Gumising Ka Movement (PGKM) is again on the warpath as it vowed to oppose a planned landfill project here.
Ecoprotect, the company behind the landfill project, had reportedly made a presentation to the municipal council which allegedly approved it shortly before the elections last May. “We will oppose it,” said PGKM chair Ruperto Cruz over the weekend here.
“It is both anti-development anti anti-progress, not to mention the danger it would bring to the health and wellness not only of the people of Porac but the people downstream.”
Cruz said the PGKM will make a stand against the landfill project even if powerful politicians are reportedly behind it.
The proponents allegedly include a former Supreme Court justice and a politician in the second district.
It was learned that Ecoprotect, reportedly headed by one Arind Tan as president, was able to obtain an environmental clearance certificate (ECC) from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and approval from outgoing Mayor Condralito Dela Cruz and the previous sangguniang bayan here.
But Cruz said his group sees no benefit that can be derived from the proposed landfill project except hampering the development that is already in the area.
The PGKM said the proposed landfill project will sit in some 10 hectares straddling barangays Mitla and Mancatian here.
Flies and bad odor will permeate where billions of pesos worth of ongoing development will be affected, Cruz said.
Alviera, a P10-billion joint development project of Ayala Land and Leoncio Land, just inaugurated its sprawling 5-hectare high-end country club recently.
The prestigious Royal Garden Golf and Country Club, the popular Poracay Resort, Robinsons Land, a number of residential subdivisions, among others will also be adversely affected, Cruz said.
The landfill project may just be a “gravel and sand business,” Cruz said explaining that in the not-so-distant past, trucks hauling sand to Manila would come back bringing Manila garbage that was eventually dumped in lahar-stricken areas here.
The modus operandi was discovered by authorities only after a substantial amount of garbage was dumped in the area by unscrupulous truckers.
Leachate Cruz also said the downstream of the Pasig-Potrero River from Barangay Mancatian here will be affected by the leachate from the landfill.
The City of San Fernando as well as the towns of Sta. Rita, Guagua, Bacolor, Sto. Tomas, and Minalin liue downstream.
The PGKM also alleged that Ecoprotect has not gone through the process like public consultation and hearing.
It is also unclear on its technical aspect as to how they will manage their leachate and its waste-to-energy plant.
The landfill project can be considered as a “midnight project” since it was hastily approved by the previous administration, according to Cruz.
Meanwhile, it was learned that the proponents of the landfill project are pushing for it and only plan to revise it even as provincial officials are reportedly lukewarm on the proposed landfill project.
Cruz said the PGKM will call the attention of Mayor Jing Capil because it will affect the development of Porac and the health of the people.
“We are creating a monster in Pampanga by ferrying garbage from Manila to Porac,” he said.
It was the PGKM that mobilized protests against the piggery farms in Porac a few years ago, culminating in a massive rally led by then San Fernando Auxiliary Bishop Pablo David. The stench emanating from the firms has since been controlled.
