108 LGUs allegedly failed to submit solid waste management plan ordered to explain by DILG

The plan, it added, shall be for the “re-use, recycling and composting” of wastes in their jurisdictions. (File photo by Adam Cohn/Flickr, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

One hundred eight local government units (LGUs) were ordered by the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) to explain why they were not able to submit a solid waste management plans as required by the law.

The DILG issued show cause orders following the government’s efforts to rehabilitate Manila Bay.

“We don’t want another case of Manila Bay. These LGUs have, unfortunately, been accustomed to leniency,” Interior Secretary Eduardo Año said in a statement on Thursday, February 7.

“The Solid Waste Management Plan is a requirement of the law, yet for many years, they ignored it. Hence, we have no recourse but to issue show cause orders to them,” he added.

Under Section 16 of Republic Act (RA) 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000, “The province, city or municipality, through its local solid waste management boards, shall prepare its respective 10-year solid waste management plans consistent with the national solid waste management framework.”

The plan, it added, shall be for the “re-use, recycling and composting” of wastes in their jurisdictions.

Among the 108 LGUs which will receive show cause orders, 78 of them are from the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). Breaking down the 78, 31 are from Lanao Del Sur, 18 from Sulu, 11 from Maguindanao, nine from Basilan, and nine from Tawi-Tawi.

Five LGUs in Mimaropa (Mindoro, Masbate, Romblon, and Palawan), eight from Region V, one from Region VI, and four each from Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna Rizal, Quezon), and Regions II, VII, and VIII will also be served with the show cause orders.

The LGUs were given 10 days after they received the order to submit their respective explanations.

In an interview with CNN Philippines’ The Source also on Thursday, DILG Assistant Secretary Jonathan Malaya said the department will be filing complaints before the Office of the Ombudsman if they found out their explanation are “insufficient.”

“These 108 LGUs from Luzon to Mindanao were found to be negligent, but of course we have to give them due process,” he said.