Solid Waste Management Ordinance Approved

The Solid Waste Management Ordinance of Tagbilaran City has recently been approved last January 3, 2020 by the Fourteenth Sangguniang Panlungsod, in pursuant to Republic Act 9003, or otherwise known as the “Solid Waste Management Act of 2000.” This ordinance focuses on activities involving the proper segregation, collection, recycling and disposal of wastes within the city.  More particularly, it enumerates the different requirements, collection procedures, prohibited acts and the corresponding imposable penalties.

Some of the requirements include the placing of solid wastes inside black or transparent garbage bags before bringing them out to the streets, the disposal of biodegradable wastes by the household itself, through the creation of a compost pit, which is mandatory for each household or business establishment, and the proper collection and disposal of harmful and residual wastes by the city’s solid management workers. For recyclable wastes, households and business establishments are also encouraged to coordinate with the barangay for their proper collection and disposal.

The ordinance also mentions a number of prohibited acts, which include the following:

• Littering or throwing of wastes in public places
• Not securing or providing proper receptacles of waste containers properly
• Placing wastes outside the houses or in the streets at least two hours before collection
• Throwing of used paints, oil wastes and similar items at the seashore and in caves
• Indiscriminate dumping of dead animals and animal wastes
• Constructing pigpens and toilets along sources of water without proper septic tanks
• Not segregating wastes properly
• Indiscriminate burning of solid wastes which are harmful to the environment
• Intentional breaking of bottles and glass materials
• Removing recyclable receptacles used in solid waste collection and disposal
• Blatantly ignoring wastes in the surrounding areas and immediate premises of households, and
• Willfully refusing to create a compost pit, as required.

Violation of any of the prohibited acts shall be punishable of a fine of not less than 1,000 pesos, but not more than 5,000 pesos, or imprisonment of one to six months, or both, at the discretion of the court.

The ordinance further provides that in case there is admission of guilt on the part of the violator before a case has been filed in the proper courts, such person shall be allowed to pay lesser fines in the following amounts:

• First offense – Php500.00
• Second offense – Php1,000.00
• Third offense – Php1,500.00
• Subsequent offenses – Php2,000.00

However, if the offense was committed by a commercial or institutional establishment, the fines to be collected are in the following amounts:

• First offense – Php1,000.00
• Second offense – Php2,000.00
• Third offense – Php3,000.00
• Subsequent offense – Revocation of Mayor’s and Business Permits and a fine of Php5,000.00

The violators shall be issued a citation ticket by the enforcing officer, wherein the details of the offense committed and the corresponding fine shall be clearly written. If the violator is a business establishment, the citation shall be made in the name of the president, general manager or any officer-in-charge. Payment of the fines should be made within seven days from such issuance.

Failure to pay shall result in the strict non-issuance of any barangay or city clearances and certificates.

The authority to enforce this said ordinance is given to the following:

• Members of the City Solid Waste Management Monitoring and Enforcement Team
• Citation Officers deputized by the City Mayor
• Philippine National Police
• Barangay Officials and Tanods
• Any other duly authorized representative of the City Mayor.

All fines collected shall form part of the Solid Waste Management Fund of the city.