‘EXODUS OVER SMELL’: Tigbauan barangay officials quit over poultry farm odor complaints

By Mariela Angella Oladive

ILOILO CITY – Nine barangay officials of Linobayan in Tigbauan, Iloilo, submitted their resignations on Aug. 26 in what Punong Barangay Rene Taño described as a protest over residents’ long-running complaints of foul odor and flies allegedly linked to a poultry farm in nearby Barangay Sipitan.

The resigning officials are Taño; kagawads Joesa Mae Mendez, Mary Rose Agapay-Sagala, Leticia Trespecios, Leticia Tasic, Rico Taño, Johnny Vale, and Efren Tayag; and Sangguniang Kabataan chairperson Ejelyn Claire Casio.

Their resignation letter said the resignations were irrevocable and would take effect on Sept. 10.

Under Section 82 of the Local Government Code, the resignation of an elective barangay official is deemed effective only upon acceptance by the city or municipal mayor, with copies furnished to the Department of the Interior and Local Government.

“We had been planning to resign for a long time. This was not a one-night decision,” Taño said in a media interview on Aug. 27.

He said the barangay had raised residents’ complaints with the municipal government for more than a year without securing a complete solution or mitigation.

Residents first brought the complaints formally to the office of Mayor Virgilio Teruel in June 2025, reporting foul odor and a rise in flies allegedly associated with the poultry operation.

The municipal government formed a Joint Inspectorate Team composed of personnel from the Municipal Agriculture Office, the Municipal Environment and Natural Resources Office, the sanitary inspection unit, and the Business Permits and Licensing Office.

The team inspected the site, but Taño said its report described the odor and fly concerns as “minimal.”

He said the complaints persisted, prompting the barangay to raise the issue again with the municipal government.

The dispute later escalated into a civil case for damages filed against Taño, two barangay kagawads, and 17 residents who had complained about the poultry operation.

Taño said he was dismayed to be included in the case, saying he was only performing his duties in responding to concerns raised by his constituents.

“I was sued in the course of performing my duties because I was doing what I had to do for my constituents,” he said.

The barangay officials later sought the municipal government’s assistance in addressing the dispute.

Taño said the pressure from the case, coupled with the absence of what the barangay considered a lasting solution, contributed to the decision to resign.

Teruel disputed the barangay’s characterization that the municipal government had failed to act.

In an interview with Aksyon Radyo, Teruel said municipal records showed that several measures had been undertaken since the complaints were raised, including inspections by the Joint Inspectorate Team.

“I couldn’t agree with the characterization of inaction,” Teruel said, noting that he personally visited the poultry facility to assess the situation.

Teruel said the local government had been trying to be fair to both the residents and the poultry operator, and that the complaints had to be evaluated through due process.

He also appealed to the barangay officials to reconsider.

“It is not really the solution to resign,” he said.

In an Aug. 25 statement, Sangguniang Bayan member Dr. Pinky Jarina, chairperson of the Committee on Health and Sanitation and part of the inspection process, said the concerns of residents should be heard but that government action must rest on verified facts, proper evaluation, and evidence.

Jarina said established mechanisms remained available to address the issue, and urged all parties to allow the process to proceed.

In a separate radio report, some residents pointed to a former municipal dumpsite near the poultry farm as another possible source.

The dumpsite was closed in November 2016.

Residents said waste remained in the area and that an odor could still be detected there.

The source of the odor has not been established and remains subject to further assessment.

Taño said the resignations were meant to draw attention to the concerns raised by Linobayan residents.

He said he was firm on his decision to resign and would leave the next steps to the municipal government.