DILG asks 108 LGUs to explain lapses in solid waste management plans

The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) on Thursday said it has issued show cause orders to more than 100 local chief executives for failing to prepare and submit a10-year solid waste management plan as required by law.

Under Republic Act 9003, otherwise known as the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000, "all provinces, cities or municipalities through their Local Solid Waste Management Boards, shall prepare their respective 10-Year Solid Waste Management Plans consistent with the National Solid Waste Management Framework to be submitted to the NSWMC (National Solid Waste Management Commission)."

In line with this, the DILG directed 108 LGUs to submit within 10 days from receipt of the orders a notarized explanation "on why no administrative penalty shall be recommended against you relative to the failure of your LGU to submit the 10-Year Solid Waste Management Plan."

DILG Assistant Secretary and spokesperson Jonathan Malaya clarified that they will not yet be releasing the names of the concerned LGUs.

"But once we have received their reply and validated their explanations, we will be releasing the names of those found to be negligent in the performance of their functions,” he said.

The show cause orders have been signed by the secretary and transferred to the DILG's records office for transmittal as of Thursday.

According to Malaya, the LGUs should receive the orders "as early as next week."

This move comes as the government is carrying out rehabilitation efforts in Manila Bay, wherein they started a crackdown on establishments allegedly violating environmental laws.

"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.

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

Año also emphasized that, to avoid pursuing further legal action, the DILG is expecting all LGUs' immediate submission and implementation of their 10-year solid waste management plan. — Margaret Claire LayugMDM, GMA News