Groups alarmed over Victorias’ proposed waste disposal to Bacolod

By Glazyl M. Jopson

BACOLOD CITY — Two groups have expressed concern over the proposed disposal of Victorias City, Negros Occidental’s waste in this city.

City Legal Officer Karol Joseph Chiu, in a recent media interview, said the city government of Victorias requested the disposal of its residual waste in Bacolod City.

The proposal was presented to the Solid Waste Management Board, which approved it, according to Chiu.

However, the matter is subject to the approval of the Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP).

Chiu said such a proposal is allowed under the law, noting the cooperation between the two cities.

“Based on legal opinion, it is favorable and the city could do that,” he added.

Under the proposal, Victorias City is allowed 30 cubic meters of waste every month for a year, Chiu said, assuring that Bacolod can accommodate it with the upcoming operation of sanitary landfill cell No. 5 in Barangay Felisa here.

“This is the first time for Bacolod,” Chiu said.

He, however, said he did not know the reason Victorias needs to tap Bacolod for the disposal of its waste.

In a statement, the Negrosanon Initiative for Climate and the Environment (NICE) said it was surprised and saddened by the announcement, prompting the group to raise serious concerns about whether Bacolod is in a position to shoulder an additional waste burden when it continues to face its own growing waste management challenges.

While the group recognized that cooperation among local government units (LGUs) is encouraged under Philippine law, cooperation should strengthen communities without compromising the welfare and long-term interests of those extending the “help,” it said.

The group stressed that Bacolod City’s priority must be solving its own waste and landfill concerns, and genuine solidarity among local governments should never come at the expense of environmental sustainability, citing reported complaints from residents of Barangay Felisa about the persistent foul odor affecting their health, sanitation, and overall well-being.

It is difficult to speak of helping others when our own waste management system still requires urgent attention, stronger investment, and real action, it stated.

The group called on the SP to carefully consider the long-term environmental, social, and economic consequences of the proposal before making its decision, stressing that Bacolod cannot become the answer to another city’s waste problem while its own waste crisis remains unresolved.

Meanwhile, the newly formed group Alyansa Kontra Basura (AKB), in a statement, vehemently opposed the proposal, stressing that the memorandum of agreement (MOA) between the two cities is grossly disadvantageous to the people of Bacolod City, particularly to the residents of Barangays Felisa and Handumanan and nearby areas, and could result in irreparable environmental damage.

Wennie Sancho, the group’s lead convenor, said Barangay Felisa is already receiving 1,700 to 2,500 cubic meters of garbage daily from Bacolod alone, and additional waste from Victorias shortens the lifespan of the landfill and burdens Bacolod taxpayers.

It will also have an adverse impact on the people’s health and environment, he added.

“More garbage, more leachate, methane, pests, floods and disease. We deserve fresh air and clean water. We are not garbage,” he stressed.

The group was concerned that it will serve as a precedent from temporary to permanent.

“Today Victorias, tomorrow who else? It is an issue of human dignity,” he said.

Sancho noted that elected local government officials of Bacolod should protect the city and not make it a dumping ground for residual waste from other cities.

“Victorias City’s garbage is now ours. If this will not be stopped, Bacolod City would no longer be a City of Smiles but a City of Stench,” he said.

Sancho noted that there were no public consultations and hearings on the matter.

The group represents workers in the formal and informal sectors, vendors, drivers, students, and residents of Bacolod City, and vowed to campaign for the rejection of the MOA.

“No to imported garbage. Bacolod City is not a dumping ground. Save your waste in your city. Don’t dump it on us,” Sancho said.