MMDA to pay for Rizal landfill use once court decides recipient

MANILA, Philippines - The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) will pay for using the Montalban sanitary landfill. But it wants proof that Rodriguez town really has disposition over the 14-hectare property. Emmanuel de Castro, MMDA chief legal counsel, made the announcement in a statement released on Wednesday. "Mayor Pedro Cuerpo should first prove before the court that the town is the rightful owner of the 14-hectare landfill before the agency pays up," De Castro said. According to earlier reports, Cuerpo had threatened to ban Metro Manila dump trucks from the landfill unless the MMDA paid up. But the Rizal provincial government, headed by Governor Casimiro Ynares III, is also claiming to have disposition over the landfill. That, the lawyer pointed out, was precisely why the MMDA filed a case at the Makati Regional Trial Court. "It's up to the court to decide whether it's the municipality or the provincial government we will pay to," De Castro said. "Until then, we cannot move yet, lest we be cited for contempt because the case is sub judice." Cuerpo has stuck to his claim the MMDA should pay the town government for the use of the landfill. He even raised the "tipping fee" last year from the P439 to P1,000 per garbage truck. Last March, the Rizal provincial government suspended the mayor for ignoring a resolution stopping him from collecting fees from garbage haulers. Vice Mayor Jonas Cruz took over in an acting capacity. Cuerpo, however, contested the suspension order and holed himself up inside his office at the municipal hall, causing tension between his supporters and those of Cruz. Last Friday (April 18), Malacañang intervened in the squabble between the town and provincial governments. Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita signed a directive that deferred the suspension of Cuerpo, giving the mayor 15 days to answer the charges filed against him. About 8,000 metric tons of garbage generated by Metro Manila residents are dumped daily at the landfill, while the rest are distributed at various dumpsites operated by the MMDA. - GMANews.TV