EMB canโt relocate hog, poultry farms
CITY OF SAN FERNANDO — An official of the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) in Central Luzon admitted it cannot relocate the protested hog and poultry farms in Porac.
Lormelyn Claudio, regional director of the EMB, said their agency cannot order the relocation of the 14 complained piggeries and poultry farms in Barangay Sinura, Sta. Cruz and Manibaug Paralaya.
โWe can only check on the compliance to standards of these pigpens but we do not have the mandate to order their relocation,โ Claudio said.
Claudio said the local government unit (LGU) has the power to order the relocation.
Claudio said they can cancel the environmental compliance certificates and later order the closure of the hog farms if they are deemed non-compliant given a period of time.
โOf course, we will have to give them a chance to mitigate their violations,โ Claudio said.
She stressed that EMB checks the housekeeping measures of agro-industrial industries but the day-to-day monitoring is the task of LGUs.
Last week, the Pinoy Gumising Ka Movement led by environmentalist Ruperto Cruz called on Claudio and local government officials to relocate the piggeries and poultry farms as soon as possible.
Cruz said the foul stench released by these hog farms has cost the lives of some distressed residents.
Claudio denied that her agency was not taking actions as what Cruz was pointing out. She said she has issued a notice of violation (NOV) to six of the hog farms in Porac.
These hog farms were Select Farm, Edward-Agri Farm, Villa Aida Farm, NDR Farm Incorporated, Kennon Farm Inc. and Paradise Farm.
Aside from the NOVs, the EMB has also created a multi-partite monitoring team to check on the sanitation of the hog farms.
โIt is not even the task of the EMB to address the foul odor. We were just helping the LGU,โ she said.
Claudio added that is not the job of the EMB to check the level of hydrogen sulfite and ammonia emanated by hog farms but of LGUs.
The EMB director, however, clarified that they are not passing on the entire job to the LGU.
โWe actually want to work with the LGU,โ Claudio said.
Councilor Mike Tapang, however, said the relocation of the hog and poultry farms should be anchored on the municipal governmentโs comprehensive land use plan.
Tapang, who first proposed that the hog farms be relocated, said there are piggeries that have no violations and there are hogfarms that do not comply with environmental regulations.
โWe have to look at these aspects very carefully so we will be able to identify which of these piggeries would have to be relocated and those which have to be closed. Definitely, if your non-compliant and you have violations, closure ang recommendation namin. Kung may violation ka at in-compliance ka naman, baka puwede pang ayusin at pag-usapan kung kailan puwede silang i-relocate,โ he said, adding that ultimately, when the zoning ordinance and land use plan are finalized, the issue on relocation of the piggeries will be resolved. (Charlene Cayabyab/Sunnex)
Published in the Sun.Star Pampanga newspaper on September 28, 2010.
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