Environmental groups have served a “notice to sue” to Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Secretary Roy Cimatu for issuing an administrative order that provided guidelines for waste-to-energy (WTE) facilities, which they claimed violated environmental laws.
No Burn Pilipinas and EcoWaste Coalition filed the legal measure to the DENR last week. The groups called on Cimatu to revoke his order in 30 days or face legal consequences, as reported in a Philippine Daily Inquirer report.
The groups’ legal counsel Aaron Pedrosa said DENR Administrative Order No. 2019-21 extended a “blanket clearance” for incinerator projects, including the burning of trash to produce usable energy.
“This clearly violates existing laws, such as the Ecological Waste Management Act and the Clean Air Act,” he said during a press briefing.
Under Section 20 of the Clean Air Act, incineration is prohibited.
Pedrosa said the issued guidelines contradict the DENR’s own mandate to implement environmental laws.
“By promulgating [this order], it overlooks realities in the ground, such as the health hazards linked with incineration,” he said.
The guidelines issued last November were also done without public consultations, the group claimed.
“This is scientifically deficient,” Pedrosa said. “[It] ignores best practices on zero waste and existing environmental laws.”
DENR Undersecretary Benny Antiporda called the groups’ action as “very unfair.”
“The minute that these WTE facilities will violate the Clean Air Act, the secretary can immediately make a cease-and-desist order without going through the pollution adjudication board,” he told the Inquirer.
