BAGUIO CITY—The former Special 6th Division of the Court of Appeals commended the Baguio City government for the continuous rehabilitation of the closed 5.2-hectare Irisan open dumpsite which was the subject of a consent decree after being subjected to a writ of kalikasan by concerned environmentalists in Baguio and Benguet.
In a two-page resolution dated June 27, signed by Associate Justices Ricardo Rosario, Rosemarie Carandang and Japar Dimaampao, the CA cited the local government for the sustained activities leading to the permanent closure of the dumpsite and the adoption of appropriate solutions to address the city’s garbage disposal problems.
On March 21, the CA directed the Department of Environment and Natural Resources through the Office of the Solicitor-General and the Baguio City government and its officials to submit their respective periodic reports on the implementation of the covenant’s content in the consent decree issued in the environmental case.
In its monitoring report on the closed Irisan dumpsite, the DENR informed the CA the facility remained closed for dumping and was secured with a perimeter fence; upon entering the facility, mounds of compost were noted inside the facility; as previously observed, the dumpsite has not been used for dumping and the area has slowly been covered with natural vegetation; the two environment recycling (ER) machines continue to process the city’s biodegradable waste with each machines capable of processing 24 tons of biodegradable waste into compost fertilizer and that the retaining walls, its buttresses, perimeter canals, storm or surface run-off canals, fence and other engineering structures are still intact and functioning.
Under its semestral updates on the closure and rehabilitation plan of the dump facility, the city government informed the CA that the two ER machines continue to accommodate and daily process delivered biodegradable waste collected from the city public market as well as commercial and residential barangays; a developmental plan is in place for the conversion of the former dumpsite into an ecotourism center and the 10-year ecological solid waste management plan of the city has already been approved by the National Solid Waste Management Commission.