Pulupandan Acting Mayor Antonio Suatengco yesterday issued a Cease and Desist Order to Asian Alcohol Corp. and the municipal engineer of the town declared its water pipeline an illegal structure.

Suatengco said in the CDO that the municipal government as “protector of the people and their rights to good health and clean environment, cannot anymore close their eyes and be left deaf and dump to the harmful effects arising from the continuous discharge of pollutive effluents into the sea and the emission of dangerous fumes and assimilation in the atmosphere of fly ash caused by the operation of Asian Alcohol Corp.”

Citing Section 16 of the Local Government Code, Suatengco said it is within the power of every local government to exercise within their respective territorial jurisdiction all acts necessary to the promotion of the health and safety and enhancement of the right of the people to a balanced ecology.

Due to AAC’s pollution-causing business activities, Suatengco said he was left with no other recourse but to order the outright cessation of its business operation.

On May 15 Canjusa Barangay Captain Francisco Dorepes and Zone 6 Barangay Captain Allan Jacildo also issued a CDO on AAC to stop activities that cause pollution.

AAC lawyer Roger Reyes yesterday said that, even without the CDO, the firm had already ceased operations on June 2 after its water pipeline at Riego Street in Pulupandan was destroyed.

The water pipe was allegedly “accidentally” hit by a backhoe being used for work on the town’s drainage system, but Reyes said they believe it was deliberate since it occurred at 10:30 p.m. June 1 under the cover of darkness.

Reyes said he spoke with Pulupandan Mayor Magdaleno Peña yesterday and a meeting is being arranged between him, the town’s barangay captains and the AAC management.

The mayor, who has been on leave, reiterated his pollution control demands to AAC, Reyes said.

Nothing is impossible, we are working at the best solution possible, the lawyer added.

But Reyes also maintained that AAC had been operating within the pollution control standards set by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

He reiterated that if no solution is reached between AAC and the municipal government, the firm will have no choice but to move out, which would be harmful to the economy of the town.

Municipal Engineer Ligaya Maravilla in response to the request of AAC for permission to repair its damaged water pipeline at Riego Street, declared it an illegal structure.

She said AAC had not secured the required Civil Structural Permit/Excavation Permit and other municipal clearances for the pipe in question in violation of the National Building Code.

AAC cannot repair the pipeline in question without getting a clearance from her office and the mayor’s office, Maravilla said.

Reyes said the pipe in question was laid down in 1974, it had been there for more than 30 years giving it legality.

If there was no permit to construct the pipeline all the way from Bagaragay Sagasa in Bago City to Pulupandan it should have been questioned earlier, he added.*CPG

back to top