This story
was taken from Bulatlat, the Philippines's alternative weekly
newsmagazine (www.bulatlat.com, www.bulatlat.net, www.bulatlat.org).
Vol. V, No. 12, May 1-7, 2005
Bulacan
Fishers Seek Dump’s Closure It has been three years
since a barge coming from the coast of Manila Bay would pass by the shoreline
communities of Obando, Bulacan leaving a trail of foul air and litter-strewn
waters. Residents, who have waited long enough for government authorities to
enforce an ordinance that would halt the barge’s operations, have decided to
take things into their own hands to close the dump. BY DABET CASTAÑEDA OBANDO, Bulacan – In this coastal town 16
kms north of Manila where fishponds abound, the burst of kwitis (local
fireworks) would usually shoo away birds that prey on bangus (milk fish)
or tilapia fingerlings. But for a week now, fireworks were a signal for coastal
residents to mass up for one single cause – to stop the garbage-bearing barges. Coastal villagers have been protesting the
dumping of wastes from Metro Manila for three years. Each day, at least two
barges filled with garbage pass through the river on the way to the
dump in nearby Navotas. Loaded with at least 800 tons of mixed waste
from the metropolis, each barge sets off from Pier 18 along the coast of Manila
Bay and navigates through the Binuangan Strait before anchoring at an 11-ha
dump, the Navotas Controlled Disposal Facility (NCDF), along the shores of
Navotas, a town in northern Manila. The Philippine Ecology System Corporation (Phileco)
operates the dump. From Manila Bay, two barangays (villages)
are on both shorelines of the 50-meter wide Binuangan Strait – Barangay Salambaw and Barangay Binuangan. Based on government records, the two barangays
have 10,000 residents most of them depending on the river for food and income. Rich source One of the residents, Virgilio del Rosario,
48, of Salambaw, owns a panti (a fishnet made of nylon) posted in the
middle of the river. He said that three years ago his daily catch consisted of
at least three kilos of shrimps and another three kilos of alimasag
(crab). Since the trash barge started passing by the river, he is able to catch
only a kilo of each, sometimes even less or none at all. “Namatay na ang mga similya dahil sa
polusyon” (The pollution [brought about by the garbage] has killed the
fingerlings), he said. Worse, he said, the barge would sometimes pass through
his panti and wreck it. Residents of Binuangan have similar
complaints. Antonio Rivera, 59, used to make a living by harvesting tahong
(mussel) or talaba (oyster) from the riverside. “Dati, pag hanguan ng talaba o tahong,
parang pyesta dito sa amin. Lahat kami kumikita” (It was like a fest here
every time mussels or oysters are harvested. All of us were earning), he said.
But those days are gone since the waters
were polluted by waste from industries in the neighboring towns of Meycauayan,
Navotas and Velenzuela. The pollution, he said, has been aggravated by the
Navotas dump that also emits toxic waste into the river. Inaction Ricardo de Armas, chairperson of the fisher
folk group Pamalakaya-Bulakan (Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya) and a
resident of Salambaw, assailed the local government for its inaction on the
village folk’s clamor to stop the barge from passing by their communities and
closing the dump. On June 15 last year the Bulacan provincial
council passed Municipal Ordinance No. 03 that prohibits the barge from passing
by the Binuangan Strait. Apparently the ordinance remains on paper.
De Armas challenged local government
officials to implement this order to protect the river and the people from the
hazards to their livelihood and health. In a statement on April 28, the Oppose
Dumpsite (Obando People’s Alliance Against Dumpsite), accused the NCDF of
failing to secure an Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC). NCDF, the group
also said, violates the Provincial Environmental Code (PEC) that prohibits “the
dumping or disposal of solid waste into the sea and any body of water in Bulacan
including shorelines and riverbanks.” De Armas said they would keep their vigil
along the river until government enforce the ordinances and punish the NCDF for
polluting the waters of Obando and neighboring towns. Harassment The barangay residents’ protest, however, is
being met reportedly with harassment and intimidation by the coast guard, the
military and police. At around 5 p.m. on April 29, an army platoon arrived in
Binuangan and occupied the village’s day care center for their temporary
detachment. The boatman who brought them in told Bulatlat that the soldiers came
from the neighboring town of Hagonoy. Residents said the soldiers conducted
house-to-house inspection looking for three leaders of the fisherfolks’
organization, the residents said. In the morning of April 30, the platoon-size
military unit was reinforced by 18 members of the Philippine National Police
(PNP)-Provincial Mobile Group (PMG) and 15 coast guard crew. They tried to break
the picket line of about 1,500 residents from Binuangan and some neighboring
villages along the river. The tension lasted for about 15 minutes.
With reports from Pokus Gitnang Luzon / Bulatlat © 2004 Bulatlat
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