DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 28 July)—City Mayor Sebastian “Baste” Z. Duterte has called the national government to provide a counterpart fund to construct the Japanese government-supported waste-to-energy (WTE) incineration facility.
During his State of the City Address (SOCA) at the Sangguniang Panlungsod on Friday, Duterte said he remains hopeful that the government, particularly the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, would support the establishment of the WTE facility in Davao.
He said that the Japanese government already signified its interest to help build this facility by providing the local government a grant but added that the project would also require a significant counterpart fund from the national government.
“Mohangyo lang ko na madayon na ni… Unta madayon na ni, please po (I would just like to request. Hope this will happen. Please),” he said.
In August 2022, the City Council of Davao passed a resolution urging President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to provide a counterpart fund worth P3.486 billion for the WTE project here.
The resolution, authored by 1st District Councilor Tek Ocampo, said the country should seize the opportunities offered by the Japanese government to avail of technical and financial assistance to develop sustainable ways of managing solid wastes.
Ocampo, chair of the committee on environment, said the Japanese government expressed the intention in 2018 to donate 5.013-billion yen, or equivalent to P2.052 billion, to partially fund the project of the WTE facility.
According to data from the City Environment and Natural Resources Office, some 600 to 800 tons of wastes are generated daily in the locality.
Davao-based environmental group Interfacing Development Interventions for Sustainability Inc. (IDIS) had earlier opposed the construction of a WTE incineration facility in Davao due to the health and environmental risks that it may cause.
Lawyer Mark Peñalver, IDIS executive director, said a study conducted by Dr. Jorge Emmanuel, a professor of environmental science and engineering at the Silliman University in Dumaguete City, found that WTE incinerators release large amounts of highly toxic substances called dioxins and furans into the air.
Emmanuel was former chief technical adviser on global environment projects of the United Nations Development Program.
The group added that inhalation of dioxins and furans causes an “increased risk of tumors, cancer, asthma and other fatal diseases.”
“If we want to push for a sustainable Davao City, then our policy makers, our decision makers should think twice in investing in dirty energies and dirty solutions like a WTE incineration project,” Peñalver said. (Antonio L. Colina IV / MindaNews)
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