Gov to tire pyrolysis plant: Get out of Bulacan

by Ramon Lazaro

GUIGUINTO, Bulacan – Bulacan Gov. Wilhelmino Sy Alvarado has ordered the officials of a tire pyrolisys plant located in Barangay Tabang here to move out of the province due to the environmental hazard it pose to the citizens of Bulacan as it continues to operate despite a cease and desist order.

The governor’s decision was made as tensions flares up in this town on Friday afternoon after John Ang, operations manager of Bio-Eco Solution Technology Inc., denied the entry of Central Luzon ’s Environmental Management Bureau director Lormelyn Claudio and Alvarado inside their plant premises for inspection.

Alvarado immediately asked Vice Gov. Daniel Fernando to pass a resolution declaring the owners of the company as persona non grata in Bulacan due to the fact that their illegal operations are causing a slow poisoning to the citizenry of the province.

The governor then asked an unidentified legal counsel of the company to where he comes from and added that he could tell to his clients to move the company to the place where the lawyer lives and not in Bulacan.

Alvarado even cited that the company was first found to have violated environmental laws while operating in the mountainous part of Angat town and when its was ordered to close down it moved to a more populated area in Guiguinto and noted that the company’s workers are the same as those while it is operating in Angat.

The inspection teams of Claudio and Alvarado were denied entry for more than one hour to the compound of the tire pyrolysis plant that was given a cease and desist order by the EMB on March 6.

Claudio said the cease and desist order was served because they were able to established that the company violated provisions of the Philippine Environmental Impact Statement System Law (PD1686), Clean Air Act (Ra 8749), Clean Water Act (RA 9275), Ecological Solid Waste Management Act (RA 9003) and Toxic, Hazardous and Nuclear Waste Act (RA 6969).

Claudio said that their office had earlier served a “notice of violation” against John Ang, operations manager of Bio-Eco Solution Technology Inc., for conducting testing operations without securing first the necessary Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC), Permit To Operate (POA) and Discharge Permit (DP) which is in violation of Section 4 of PD 1686 otherwise known as the Philippine Environmental Impact Statement System as well as the implementing rules and regulations of the Philippine Clean Air Act and the Philippine Clean Water Act.

The inspection teams only gained entry to the compound of the company when Claudio ordered her team to go over the company’s fence and open its gate while Alvarado ordered the Bulacan PNP to provide security to Claudio’s team.

Claudio said she has given the order and they cannot be cited for trespassing since they already have jurisdiction to oversee all activities being done inside the plant’s premises because of the cease and desist order that they have to implement.

Alvarado on the other hand said that based on the General Welfare Act of the Constitution “ it is my responsibility to protect the health and welfare of my constituents and it is already a police matter to see to it that the inspection be made.”

The inspection was hastily done after Claudio and Alvarado received reports that the company resumes operations two day after the cease and desist order was served and its operations usually begin in the wee hours of the night.

Martin Santos, the barangay chairman of Tabang confirms infront of Alvarado, Claudion and Ang that there are several complaints by residents in the area that have been registered in their blotter book that claims that the company still continues to operate despite the order made by the EMB on March 6.

The said company is located in a residential and commercial area and is also adjacent to the TESDA Training Center and residents in the area said the company’s “illegal” activities has compromised their health together with the students studying in the center.

Upon inspection of the thermal processors of the company, Claudio and Alvarado have noted that the facilities are still hot and concluded that it only shows that the complaints of the residents are true.

Because of their findings, Claudio said that now the company has not only been served with a cease and desist order but it is now officially padlocked due to violations of several environmental laws.