BY LEANDER C. DOMINGO
KASIBU, Nueva Vizcaya (September 12)—A sanitary landfill (SLF) worth P20 million has been completed in this upland town to improve the management of waste disposal in 30 barangay (villages) here.
According to Forester Esthie Olli, this newly inaugurated SLF is a modern engineering landfill where waste is allowed to decompose into biologically and chemically inert materials in a setting isolated from the environment.
“The SLF located at Barangay Lupa in this town and inaugurated by the local government unit (LGU) here on Sept. 8, 2022, is now ready to cater to the 30 villages of this upland town,” Olli said.
It was in 2016 during the term of then Mayor Alberto Bumolo Jr. when the planning for the SLF started.
In 2019, the Municipality of Kasibu, under the leadership of Mayor Romeo Tayaban, entered into a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) with OceanaGold (Philippines), Inc. (OGPI) to start the construction of the SLF.
In 2013, a Community MoA was executed between OGPI and Barangay Didipio whereby the company committed to providing funds for other community social development or corporate social responsibility projects in addition to community projects funded under the Social Development and Management Program.
Lawyer Joan Adaci-Cattiling, OGPI president, said the Didipio Mine committed P20 million for the SLF whose construction in January 2019 commenced with a completion date of October 2019.
But Adaci-Cattiling said funding was put on hold when the project was 70 percent completed in September 2019 to the extent of more than P14.3 million already implemented as OGPI’s operations were suspended because of delay in renewal of its financial or technical assistance agreement (FTAA).
An FTAA is a permit issued to a multinational company sharing technology and resources to explore and extract minerals in the Philippines.
On July 14, 2021, the national government renewed the Didipio Mine’s FTAA for an additional 25 years beginning June 19, 2019.
The initial 25-year FTAA took effect on June 20, 1994 and expired on June 20, 2019, a year after OceanaGold lodged its renewal application.
Adaci-Cattiling said the construction of the SLF resumed in 2021 with the remaining 30 percent of construction funded by the local government of Kasibu.
She noted that to complete the company’s commitment under the Community MoA and the MoA in 2019, the LGU requested that the remaining project fund of more than P5.88 million be used to purchase equipment and fuel supply for the repair and completion of the Kasibu SLF project.
“The company remained committed to promoting the general welfare of the residents of Kasibu, and to complete its remaining obligation the company granted the request of a backhoe/excavator worth more than P5.48 million and fuel supply for the equipment worth more than P408,228,” Adaci-Cattiling said.
During the SLF inauguration, engineer Jason Magdaong, Didipio Mine Environment manager, represented Adaci-Cattiling, also the company’s general manager for corporate and legal affairs.
“OGPI and Kasibu LGU worked together to find the site for the SLF. There were challenges the company and LGU faced in the course of the project,” Magdaong said.
Joining the inauguration was Environment Management Bureau chief for Region 2, Director Nelson Honrado, who commended the municipality of Kasibu and OceanaGold for their successful partnership.
The event was also witnessed by Tayaban, Bumolo, the Provincial Environmental Management Unit-Nueva Vizcaya chief Steve Visquera, representatives from the Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office, Pastor Richard Manait who is the LGU chief executive assistant for religious affairs, village officials and other LGU representatives.