BY GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Pulupandan Mayor Miguel Antonio Peña strongly debunked any knowledge of an agreement that he and San Enrique Mayor Jilson Tubillara, as well as Valladolid Mayor Enrique Miravalles, that they allegedly reached an agreement to solve the issues on the illegal dumpsite in Pulupandan.
In a statement, Peña said he is not aware of any agreement, “or have agreed to anything, if there is one.”
Tubillara earlier claimed that he, Peña and Miravalles have already reached an agreement that they will recover all their garbage from the site in Brgy. Palaka Sur, Pulupandan.
Peña said he “was not consulted by Mayor Tubillara, as to what is that alleged agreement,” stressing, “as this matter has to be dealt with the intervention of the Environment Management Bureau – Department of Environment and Natural Resources (EMB- DENR).”
Tubillara said he already ordered the immediate retrieval of the garbage dumped at a private property in Pulupandan.
Peña issued a “cease and desist” order against a property owner in Brgy. Palaka Sur, Pulupandan, Negros Occidental, for operating an open dumpsite, where the garbage allegedly from San Enrique was being dumped.
While he admitted that they dumped garbage in the private property, but not on a regular basis, and only during bad weather, Tubillara explained that it was the property owner who requested it to be dumped in his property as filling material.
“I respectfully disagree with the assessment of Mayor Tubillara that it is not an open dumpsite because it is an open dumpsite, the pictures speak for themselves,” Peña said.
He also congratulated the Tubillara for their new segregation facilities “but raising that is irrelevant on the issue at hand.” “And it does not matter if you dump the garbage only during bad weather, because the truth is that you actually dump your garbage in the Municipality of Pulupandan,” Peña said.
“I am sure we can settle this issue, and I hope this will not ever happen again,” he added.*
