OPPOSITORS to the Alburquerque Cluster Sanitary Landfill Project, rejoice!

Gov. Erico Aumentado Wednesday filed with the officer of General Manager and Chief Executive Officer Robert Dean Barbers of the Philippine Tourism Authority (PTA) his letter seeking the suspension of civil works on the project in Barangay Dangay in Alburquerque town. This after residents of upland and landlocked Dangay and nearby barangays clamored for the suspension, blaming the project for, among others, the turbidity of their drinking water piped to their houses. Dangay is the water source. With the stand-off in Makati Thursday brought on by the adventurism of Senator Antonio Trillanes IV at the Manila Peninsula Hotel and Friday being a holiday, Aumentado expects Barbers to act on his request this week yet at the earliest.

Stanch oppositors however can rejoice only for so long.

The suspension the governor is seeking is only pending the completion of the information, education and communication (IEC) campaign to enlighten the people on the advantages of the project. To note, the United Nations Agency for International Development (USAID) funded Ecological Governance (EcoGov), the Holy Name University (HNU) of Tagbilaran City , the Bohol Environment Management Office (BEMO) and the Tanggol Kalikasan have lined up their respective IEC campaigns this month when the new set of barangay officials shall have assumed office and settled in. Aumentado said it is his wish and that of local officials to complete the information dissemination to ensure the acceptance of the project and its orderly and hassle-free implementation. Under the plan, Albur will host the landfill for the Tagbilaran and nearby towns including Panglao Island . Being a small island and therefore environmentally fragile, Panglao by law cannot embark into a landfill project. Both Panglao and Dauis have been throwing their garbage at the controlled dumpsite in Tagbilaran City .

The dumpsite, however, as in all open dumpsites nationwide, needs to be closed with the full implementation of Republic Act 9003 or the Clean Air Act. EcoGov reports that while some local government units have been successfully operating sanitary landfills, the Albur case is a first of its kind in that it will “host” the garbage of 10 to 12 towns, Tagbilaran City initially included, for which it collects tipping fees. The idea of a cluster was born out of the principle that the more towns contribute for its establishment of a landfill, the less expensive it would come out. “Participating towns” stand to get shares from the landfill revenues. Aumentado wants to complete the series of information dissemination, aware that those against the project can stage opposition rallies and negative IEC campaigns. These spell trouble as what then Mayor Efren Tungol realized too late – the landfill became a political issue that led to his debacle in the last elections, the governor observed. He also contemplates that key municipal and barangay officials be brought on a study tour to the United Nations-awarded sanitary landfill successfully operated in San Fernando, La Union. This way, they can help explain the advantages of the project and allay fears of the unknown spread by the project oppositors, he explained.