ANGELES CITY – She survived a first stage colon cancer in 2005. Then her daughter suffered from an unusual disease of the esophagus that needed expensive medical treatment.
For businesswoman Angie Salas, these diseases were all caused by the toxic stench emanating from poultries and piggeries in Barangay Cutcut in this city.
“I have to sell some of my properties just to sustain our treatment and we spent millions of pesos for that,” Salas revealed at the regular city council session here on Tuesday.
“But how about those people who do not have the money to pay hospital bills and buy medicines?” she said.
Even their workers in the (furniture) factory also suffered from various skin diseases like rashes and “galis aso” while others would complain of headaches, stomachaches and vomiting, Salas added.
“This is because of the long exposure to the foul smell. This has to be stopped,” she said.
Prompted by these circumstances, Salas joined the call of the Pinoy Gumising Ka Movement (PGKM) to put an end to the 20-year stench problem in this city and in Porac town.
During the public hearing, environmentalists, non-governmental organizations and local officials here seemed to have found a possible and lasting solution to the stench problem – either a gradual or drastic phase out of poultries and piggeries.
PGKM chair Ruperto Cruz and other groups said they fully agree with the plan.
“Twenty years is too much. All of us in the family already have asthma now because of the foul smell. Let us save the future generation,” he said.
Cruz noted that cases of miscarriage and respiratory illnesses have increased in areas where poultries and piggeries operate.
He also noted that more blue babies are born in the same areas affected by the stench.
“Makonsensya naman kayo!” Cruz told polluters which he said live and operate in Barangay Cutcut.
Cruz charged one of the most influential families in Pampanga as alleged polluters saying that former Association of Barangay Council president Robin Nepomuceno owns a poultry farm here. Robin’s son, Councilor Bryan Nepomuceno, was present during the session on Tuesday.
Rallyists also trooped the city hall with banners saying that the stench problem in Angeles could trigger the end of the Nepomuceno’s political career.
However, Bryan defended his family saying that the poultry fam they own could not be closed immediately due to possible legal repercussions.
He said he was open to the idea of converting their farms into residential and commercial lots but still, with the consent of the whole family.
This, following up on the disclosure of housing developer Tito Lazatin that prior to housing, his family also engaged in agriculture and livestock enterprises.
“We realized the harm done to the environment of these endeavors so we switched to housing development which proved even more profitable,” Lazatin said. “Look at this place where we are now, would you think Marquee Mall would locate here if Springside Farm remained nearby?
Bryan told Cruz during the session that the latter could not prove if the flies really come from the Nepo’s poultry farm.
Cruz lambasted Bryan saying that “we are not here to ask for the closure of poultry farms but for them to follow environmental laws.”
“The reason why we are still here fighting it out against polluters is because the stench problem remains until now and had been slowly killing us,” said Cruz, who also rejected claims of only protecting his business interests. “Business is just secondary, health is still our priority.”
A number of residents of Barangay Sta. Cruz, Porac also made their presence at the session saying that the pollution from the pig farms of Cutcut seeps into their community and further worsening the stench and flies coming from hog farms in the community.
Louie Reyes of the environmental group Green Youth Brigade and Dick Tiotuico of the Sagip Sapang Balen Movement also expressed their strong denunciation of the pollution problem in the city.
For businesswoman Angie Salas, these diseases were all caused by the toxic stench emanating from poultries and piggeries in Barangay Cutcut in this city.
“I have to sell some of my properties just to sustain our treatment and we spent millions of pesos for that,” Salas revealed at the regular city council session here on Tuesday.
“But how about those people who do not have the money to pay hospital bills and buy medicines?” she said.
Even their workers in the (furniture) factory also suffered from various skin diseases like rashes and “galis aso” while others would complain of headaches, stomachaches and vomiting, Salas added.
“This is because of the long exposure to the foul smell. This has to be stopped,” she said.
Prompted by these circumstances, Salas joined the call of the Pinoy Gumising Ka Movement (PGKM) to put an end to the 20-year stench problem in this city and in Porac town.
During the public hearing, environmentalists, non-governmental organizations and local officials here seemed to have found a possible and lasting solution to the stench problem – either a gradual or drastic phase out of poultries and piggeries.
PGKM chair Ruperto Cruz and other groups said they fully agree with the plan.
“Twenty years is too much. All of us in the family already have asthma now because of the foul smell. Let us save the future generation,” he said.
Cruz noted that cases of miscarriage and respiratory illnesses have increased in areas where poultries and piggeries operate.
He also noted that more blue babies are born in the same areas affected by the stench.
“Makonsensya naman kayo!” Cruz told polluters which he said live and operate in Barangay Cutcut.
Cruz charged one of the most influential families in Pampanga as alleged polluters saying that former Association of Barangay Council president Robin Nepomuceno owns a poultry farm here. Robin’s son, Councilor Bryan Nepomuceno, was present during the session on Tuesday.
Rallyists also trooped the city hall with banners saying that the stench problem in Angeles could trigger the end of the Nepomuceno’s political career.
However, Bryan defended his family saying that the poultry fam they own could not be closed immediately due to possible legal repercussions.
He said he was open to the idea of converting their farms into residential and commercial lots but still, with the consent of the whole family.
This, following up on the disclosure of housing developer Tito Lazatin that prior to housing, his family also engaged in agriculture and livestock enterprises.
“We realized the harm done to the environment of these endeavors so we switched to housing development which proved even more profitable,” Lazatin said. “Look at this place where we are now, would you think Marquee Mall would locate here if Springside Farm remained nearby?
Bryan told Cruz during the session that the latter could not prove if the flies really come from the Nepo’s poultry farm.
Cruz lambasted Bryan saying that “we are not here to ask for the closure of poultry farms but for them to follow environmental laws.”
“The reason why we are still here fighting it out against polluters is because the stench problem remains until now and had been slowly killing us,” said Cruz, who also rejected claims of only protecting his business interests. “Business is just secondary, health is still our priority.”
A number of residents of Barangay Sta. Cruz, Porac also made their presence at the session saying that the pollution from the pig farms of Cutcut seeps into their community and further worsening the stench and flies coming from hog farms in the community.
Louie Reyes of the environmental group Green Youth Brigade and Dick Tiotuico of the Sagip Sapang Balen Movement also expressed their strong denunciation of the pollution problem in the city.
