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Monday, July 2, 2007

pAYaTAs... gROunD ZerO



As we mark the seventh anniversary of the Payatas dump tragedy on 10 July, we join the survivors in remembering those who perished from the deadliest garbage-slide in the history of our nation.

We recall with sorrow the heartrending disaster that saw hundreds of women, men and children being buried alive when the mountain of trash caved in, laying to rest their bodies and their hopes to rise out of poverty in Barangay Lupang Pangako.

As we lit candles and offer prayers in memory of the victims of the horrible calamity, we call for renewed awareness and action to halt the detrimental practice of waste dumping that persists in Payatas and other communities even now.

Notwithstanding the prohibition against open dumping and the legally-imposed deadlines for the closure of open dumps in February 2004 and the controlled dumps in February 2006, we are pained to see the nonstop practice of dumping mixed discards in powerless communities that have to suffer the brunt of our wasteful habits.

We are equally startled by the spate of proposals for so-called sanitary landfills to “replace” the more than 1,000 illegal dumps scattered all over the country. As if landfills are safe, sustainable and socially acceptable. As if it is all right to throw away money that local authorities should be using to educate the youth, to shelter the homeless, to create jobs and to deliver health and other basic services to the poor.

While asking the whole society to insist and work for the long-delayed closure of all dumps, we likewise call for multi-sectoral cooperation in advancing the right set of solutions to our burgeoning waste problems that will prevent and reduce wastes and toxics, including measures that will address the need of waste pickers for humane, safe and secured livelihood.

We particularly urge government entities and concerned financing agencies to redirect the money slated for constructing landfills and “incinerators in disguise” into waste prevention and reduction and community-oriented zero waste systems and programs that seek to eliminate rather than bury or burn wastes. Let us draw inspiration, knowledge and energy from a growing number of communities and entities that are ecologically and creatively dealing with their discards.

The tragic “fall of Payatas” should serve as a compelling reminder that policy makers could not continue their obsession with garbage disposal, and that no community deserves to be poisoned with leachate, methane and other pollutants and deprived of their birth right to a healthy environment.

We all owe it to the victims of Payatas to do everything in our power to prevent such dreadful calamity from happening again in Payatas and elsewhere, and invite every home, school, church and community not to forget the lessons of Payatas and commit to an ecological and sustainable lifestyle.

We invite the citizenry and the government to observe the 10th of July of every year as zero waste awareness and action day for environmental health and justice and a toxic-free future.

Alalahanin... at sama-samang kumilos para sa makatotohanang pangangalaga ng ating kalikasan... kung kaya ng ibang bansa... siguradong kaya mo Filipino...