he city council disapproved a pro-

Vol. XXXVIII No. 3 November 21-27, 2011 Olongapo City and Zambales P4.00

WHAT’S INSIDEAll ‘Gapo futsal finals

PAGE 6Advocacy and

JournalismBy Anthony Bayarong

PAGE 2SCTEX toll fee up 19%

PAGE 6

T

turn to page 2

Councilors ditch Seniors’ discount

In a vote of 7-3, the majority group inthe city council thumbed down theresolution granting a ‘5% discount onpower consumption for senior citizens.’

The discount was mandated by theEnergy Regulatory Commission (ERC)under the Republic Act 9994 or the‘Additional Benefits and Privileges toSenior Citizens’ act of 2010.

The same law also grants a 5% discountfor their water bills.

posal giving senior citizens a 5%discount on their electric bill recently.

Wanna to swim? — ABS-CBN’s My Binondo Girl stars Kim Tiu and Ai-Ai delas Alas get instructions from their production staffwhile having lunch. The top rated soap opera shot several scenes at the Lighthouse Resort inside the Freeport. (Photo courtesy ofthe Lighthouse Marina Resort)

San Felipefolks getP5,000 kitsA total of 30 residents of San Felipe,Zambales recently received businessstarter kits worth P5,000 from the De-partment of Labor and Employment(DOLE).

The starter kits, said Labor Depart-ment regional information officer JerryBorja , cost around P5,000 and includesvarious bags filled with tools, jigs, and otherrelated materials needed for makingembutido, barbeque, atchara, and rags.

Aside from the kits, Borja added that‘recipients will also be given trainings onentrepreneurship and businessmanagement.’

Set dolphins free, Int'lgroup asks gov’tAn international animal welfaregroup recently urged govern-ment to 'rescue' 25 dolphinsbeing trained for a Singaporemarine show at the OceanAdventure park in Subic Bay.

In a petition sent to the Bureauof Fisheries and Aquatic Re-sources (BFAR), the Animal Con-cerns Research and EducationSociety of Singapore (ACRES)said that the dolphins, listed asan endangered species, must bereturned to their natural habitat.

The dolphins, according to

Louis Ng, ACRES execu-tive director, were caughtin the waters of SolomonIslands near Papua NewGuinea in 2008 for a ma-rine show at the ResortsWorld Sentosa (RWS) inSingapore.

‘We ask the govern-ment to do the r ightthing. The 25 dolphins inSubic should not be re-exported to Singaporeand be sent back to theSolomon Islands,’ Ngsaid. turn to page 5

Foreign pledgesdown 99%, SBMA

Zambales pollssoon, Comelec

Locals pick up slack

The province’s political bigwigs are gea-ring up for the special polls for the con-gressional district vacated by Rep. Anto-nio Diaz.

This, after the Commission on Electionsannounced plans to hold elections withinthe year.

Governor Ebdane’s camp is reportedlytesting the waters for his son, Omar,through caucuses in several communities.

The camp of former governor AmorDeloso, on the other hand, is reportedlyprepping up their campaign for either him-self or his daugther Cheryl. The Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority

(SBMA) announced recently thatforeign pledges plummeted 99.21%year-on-year from US$1.12 billion toUS$8.8 million for the first nine monthsof this year.

In a statement, SBMA said thatsteep drop was offset by local com-panies who promised to invest US$1.07billion, most of them in energy projects.

Energy Logics Solar Holdings, Inc.and Energy Logics Philippines, Inc., lastAugust told SBMA that they willestablish and operate a solar energyproject worth $458.5 million (P20.1billion) and a utility-scale wind energyproject worth $280 million (P12.3billion), respectively.

Jobin-SQM, Inc., a renewable en-ergy source firm’s

.(turn to page 5)

SBMA shares power to publicThe Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority(SBMA) said recently that it will consultthe stakeholders on environmentally sen-sitive projects (ESPs) through a social ac-ceptability process (SAP).

s

The newly-crafted policy requiresproject proponents to undergo a series ofmeetings or fora with business locators,residents, the Aeta groups, workers andthe local government units.

Under the policy, groups are given threeweeks after the consultation to registertheir acceptance or non-acceptance of theproject.

SBMA chairman Roberto Garcia, in aletter dated November 16, said that result.’

of the SAP will guide SBMA board ‘in itsdecision to endorse or not to endorse theproject

He promised that the SAP ‘will be highlyinformative’ allowing groups to determinethe economic, environment and health im-pacts’ of the project.

‘SBMA adheres to the principle of opengovernance and acknowleges the benefitto all and the Subic Freeport of such apolicy,’ Garcia explained.

It was not clear, however, if SBMA maystill approve a project that is not accept-able with any or all the groups consulted.

Coal plant as guinea pigGarcia also said that the first project that

will undergo the process

Nuclear sub calls onSubic Bay

PAGE 5

turn to page 5

turn to page 6(turn to page 5)

Freedom wall—A mural supporting the international calls to freedophins in captivity is seen here at the SBMA administration building.

2Olongapo News November 21-27, 2011

EDITORIAL

#34 National Highway, Upper KalaklanOlongapo City

Member, Publishers Association of the Philippines, Inc.

news

olongaponews74@gmail.com#34 NATIONAL HI-WAY, UPPER KALAKLAN,

OLONGAPO CITY, PHILS, 2200

ENTERED AS SECOND CLASS MAIL MATTER ONSeptemver 23, 1986 AT THE OLONGAPO CITY POST

OFFICE UNDER REGIONAL PERMIT NO. 38

OLONGAPO

PresidentPublisher

EditorAccounts ManagerAccounts Assistant

CommercialAdvertising ManagerCirculation Manager

Secretary Legal Consultant

JUDELINE C. BASCOCRISPIN CURIANOJOHN B. BAYARONGJOEL CURIANOANA MARIE ARCEOJACQUILINE B. CURIANO

CARLITO C. CURIANONOEL E. OLIVAJUDGE MIGUEL FAMULARCANO, JRATTY. NOEL ATIENZA

Ditching a law

The resolution, authored bycouncilors Noel Atienza andSarah Lugerna Lipumano-Garcia, urged the city hall toimplement the law.

‘I wanted the PublicUtilities Department (PUD)to give our elderlies whatthey deserved,’ Atienza toldthe Olongapo News in aninterview.

The Republic Act 9994was passed last February15, 2010. The ERC Resolu-

Councilors ditch Senior’s discountfrom page 1 tion 23 Series of 2010 was

approved last June 18, 2010.It grants a minimum of

five percent discount onwater and electricity sup-plied by public utilities.

Under the law, those se-nior citizens consuming100kWh on electricity and30 cubic meters of waterare entitled to the discount.

The discount apply perhousehold regardless of thenumber of senior citizenresiding therein.

TALKBACK

JohnBayarong

Aquino and Arroyo‘All because it was inconvenient.’

‘It is unusual for a locallgislative body to disapprovethe implementation of a law,’Atienza added.

A senior citizen, whoasked not to be identified,said that one city officialnoted that the senior citi-zens enjoys so many privi-leges already.

‘Tiyak kung ang benepis-yo ba ay para sa mga kon-sehal, ipapasa nila angbatas,’ the fuming 67-year-old said.

Atienza explained thatone year is more thanenough time for the citygovernment to implementthe law.

Aside from the authorof the measure, onlyAquilino Cortez and Jamesdelos Reyes voted in fa-vor of the resolution.

The Republic Act 9994requires senior citizens toapply for the discount bysubmitting proof of age,residence, and billing.

Advocay and Journalism

Like many Olongapeños, I witnessed the firstepisode of the Arroyo teleserye at the NinoyAquino International Airport (NAIA).

The frail CGMA milked the incident dry. Andthe government played along so perfectly that Ithought all the king’s men were actors in anArroyo produced play.

If Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was presidentstill, she would have done to that lady exactlywhat President Noynoy Aquino did.

PGMA would have issued an edictpreventing that reed-thin, wheel chair bound ladyfrom boarding her plane to get treatment.

Scores of democrats would have flocked toANC, or any media outlet willing to air theirvoices, and lashed out at PGMA.

But the problem is that she is not the president.PNOY is. And this is the reign of the ‘tuwid nadaan’ and not the Arroyo Ro-Ro-berry.

Sure, people will argue that no one could everbe the cheating, lying, and stealing PGMA was.She is one unique mama.

But isn’t ‘everyone being treatedequally’is what democracy is all about.Isn’t it what justice, and her blind-foldedeyes, is all about.

Our government, headed by PresidentNoy, tried to legally prevent Arroyo fromleaving the country, but failed.

Let her go.If she does not come back, let’s go

after her with all the power and resourcesour nation has.

President Noy, do not let your sincerityto make PGMA pay for her crimes turnyou from an Aquino to an Arroyo.

*****I stood against that detestable Arroyo

regime and its local cohorts. The 2001 to2010 period was probably the worst timein our country’s history.

Several Marcos victim friends of minewill howl in protest. I can hear themalready, ‘nope buddy boy, Martial Lawwas the worst.’

But hear me out first.During the Martial law days, people were

afraid to speak out because the state will putyou behind bars or put a bullet in your head.

In Arroyo’s time, people were afraid tospeak out because the state might put youbehind bars or put a bullet in your head.

The first is understandable, the seconddetestable.

Marcos used martical law to dismantle ourdemocratic institutions. Arroyo did the sameunder our noses.

The 2001-2010 period is the worst part ofour history because the Filipino people, as awhole, stood by and did nothing to help thosewho tried to stop Arroyo and her minions.

We looked away while people whoopposed the lying, stealing and cheating fellone after another.

All because it was inconvenient. Bakamapag-initan. Baka pagalitan. Bakagantihan. Baka madamay. Natakot tayosa ‘Baka.’

THE POINT IS...

AnthonyBayarong

Every story, as the saying goes, has twosides. In almost every story we make, jour-nalists are criticized for being biased in fa-vor of one side. We take this seriously andlook for ways to stick to our principles.

My classmates at the Konrad AdenauerAsian Center for Journalism at the Ateneode Manila had an interesting discussion re-garding advocacy and journalism over twit-ter.

Below is an example of how journaliststhink, react and reason.

Yasmin Lee a Filipino journalis based inBangkok posted this question in our twitterclass moderated by www.gmanews.tv guruJosh Villanueva and one of our mentors inthe class.

Yasmin asks where do youdraw the line between journa-lism and advocacy. A friendsays it's two different things.Your thoughts?”

‘It’s two different things.’ Iexplained, advocacy is onething and journalism is an-other. When a journalist pushfor an advocacy, it makes him/her biased breaking the mostbasic journalism ethics which

is "be fair" or "get both sides."Shoba, a freelance journalist based

in India, had this to say.“Good journalism is always a great

tool for advocacy, inadvertently, espe-cially in matters of human rights violations.But journalism is not mere information.When a journalist reports on human rightsviolation, the report is not in vacuum..."

Josh replied. “Good point, Shoba. Asjournalists we should report on theseissues. Highlight certain points. But wemust also balance it out."

Kat Palasi, a photo freelance journalistbased in Manila, floated this question.

“So you better not advocate for anythingif ur a journalist..?

I replied. “Advocacy is one thing and jour-nalism is another; @michaeljosh @cainayi agree with you. When you advocate forsomething and write it as a journalist youbecome biased, hence fairness is deemedgone"

Yasmin says it’s a daily challenge forjournalists. “Josh, that's a daily challengeas a journalist because we are human innature, we do have our biases."

Josh added, “Kat, there are issues closeto my heart. I can report on them but not tothe point where my objectivity is ques-tioned."

Anemi Wick, a freelance journalist basedin Vietnam, argued in her post. “journalis-tic pieces that made history were hardly

unbiased or without emotions..."Shobha from India, meanwhile, pointed

out that “news media have a huge socialdimension in its very work it does. Advo-cacy in some way is a part of journalism."

Josh wrote, “Shobha, perhaps as longas we present all sides, we can still drivehome a point? But then how far should youpush?"

And Jasmin asserted, “here’s where I’mcoming from” vs "View from Nowhere" - veryinteresting. And the debate continues.

Josh asks, “but which would you ratherbe? The person who just records event?Or the journalist who advocated andprompted change?" adding, “as a journa-list my mandate is to record. But am in-clined to that higher calling of making theworld better via my stories.”

Despite the 1.5 hours discussion overtwitter, the question still stands.

If you want to follow the discussion ontwitter, search for the hashtag #mmj182.

The point is …. So what do you read-ers think, should we (journalists) record theevents or write to change them? Email meat abayarong@subictimes.com.

(Anthony Bayarong is the Editor and pub-lisher of www.subictimes.com and a sub-edi-tor for the Peninsula Qatar. A student of Mul-timedia journalism under a grant by theKonrad Adenauer Asian Center for Journal-ism at the Ateneo de Manila)

The City council disapproved a resolutionrequiring the Public Utilities Department(PUD) to implement Republic Act 9994and the ERC Resolution 23 Series of2010 that gave senior citizens a 5%discount on power and water bill.

The councilors voted down theresolution 7-3 on its second reading.

All the resolution wanted was for thelaw to be implemented.

How can our councilors refuse topass a resolution to implement a law?More importantly, why?

Our dear readers, we are sure weneed not fill up the remaining space belowto belabor the point.

Olongapo News5

November 21-27, 2011

Ex-Subic chiefleads BCDAre-branding

Foreign pledges down 99%, SBMA

US$300 million (P13.2billion) project got the nodof SBMA in 8 months ago.

Subic Food VenturesCorp., will plunk $932,000or P41 million for aMcDonald’s restaurant.

Other investmentpledges include a $22.7 mil-lion (P998 million) from anoil-based product tradingand importation firm; $1.5million (P66 million) by aconstruction firm; $900,000

various electronic products,resins, steel and other mer-chandize.

Lastly, a $465,000(P20.4 million) investmentfor the trading of hazardouswaste, scrap materials andother related services. (30)

(P39 million) aviation andflight training school;$699,137 (P30 million) aleisure and recreational fa-cilities development;$488,372 (P21,4 million)wholesale and retail firm of

from page 1

Subic Bay’s jewel—The Harbor Point rises on a 7.5 hectare property leased from the Freeport authority. This year,each of the three local energy firms pledged to invest four times more than Ayala Land’s P3 billion mall development.

Nuclear sub callson Subic BayThe nuclear-powered USS Texas (SSN 775) dockedat the Freerpot’s Alava pier recently for a purely restand relaxation visit.

It is the first-ever Vir-ginia-class attack subma-rine to call port in thecountry and the secondsubmarine of the classto be deployed in theregion.

According to theSubmarine Group 7 Pub-lic Affairs, the USS Texasmeasures 377 feet andweighs 7,800 tons whensubmerged.

Usually deployed in Eu-rope, the sub is powered bya pressurized water reac-tor style nuclear reactor,designed by Knolls AtomicPower Laboratory.

Its reactor is designedoperate for 33 years with-out refueling.

'The ship and crew haveperformed beyond all ex-pectations during thisWestern pacific deploy-ment,' said Cmdr. RobertRoncska, USS Texas com-manding officer.

The submarine waschristened on 31 July 2004by Laura Bush, First Ladyof the United States. (30)

Several calls were made to OceanAdventure for their comments but nonewere returned as of press time.

Ng said that of the 27 dolphins, 2 diedin Langkawi, Malaysia and the rest werebrought to Subic Bay.

According to ACRES, the SolomonIslands government has passed a law toban the hunting and trafficking in dolphinsstarting January 2012.

Other countries such as Chile, CostaRica and Mexico have followed suit.

According to reports, three false killerwhales and two bottlenose dolphins thatwere caught in the wild have died insidethe Ocean Adventure marine park since2000.

The long running tussle between OceanAdventure and animal right groups beganin 2000 when an American marine animaltrainer Tim Desmond established the openwater marine park inside the Freeportzone.

Various groups accused Subic BayMarine Exploratorium (SBME) of violatingAnimal Welfare Act but SBME hurdledall the legal challenges.

Set dolphins free, Int'lgroup asks gov’tfrom page 1

is the 600MW coal-fired power plant inRedondo Peninsula.

‘RP Energy will have an opportunityto present the highlights of its proposed600MW coal plant project during the con-sultations,’ Garcia said.

The coal-fired power plant has comeunder protest for allgedly securing its en-vironmental compliance certificate(ECC) without social acceptability.

SBMA sources said that some of thenew board of directors ‘have seriousquestions on the manner by which RPEnergy secured its lease and developmentagreement (LDA).’

‘But the environmental impact of theproject is a definite concern for many ofthe newly-appointed officials,’ the sourcesaid.

In an earlier interview, officials of RPEnergy insisted that they have compliedwith all the legal requisites for their powerplant project.

Ray Cunningham, spokesperson forRP Energy, said that their plant passesall the environmental standards of theDepartment of Environment and Natu-ral Resources (DENR).

Meralco owns a controlling stake ofthe power generating firm while the restof the shares are owned by AboitizPower and Taiwan Cogeneration Cor-poration.

Anti-coal plant activists complainedthat RP Energy have begun constructionin their leased area.

Both DENR and SBMA have issuedenvironmental clearances for the project.

SBMA shares power to publicSan Felipe folks get P5,000 kitsfrom page 1

‘Sa hirap ng buhay dito saSan Felipe, malaking bagaypo ang bigyan kami ngpansin ng ating lokal napamahalaan at ng Dole sapagbibigay ng mgaproyekto tulad ng starter kitpara kami’y makapag-simula ng panibagonghanapbuhay para sa amingpamilya,’ said MarilynIngel, one of the recipients

San Felipe MayorCarloyn Fariñas, togetherwith Maylene Evangelistaof the Dole-Zambales andSan Felipe Peso Manager

Rommel Asuncion, per-sonally awarded the starterkits amounting to P150,000.

Aside from the kits, therecipients will also be giventrainings on entrepreneur-ship and business manage-ment.’

The municipal govern-ment of San Felipe providedits counterpart assistance ofP37,500 for the conduct oftrainings on capabilitybuilding and purchase ofadditional tools.

‘We give them thisopportunity to help thembecome small entre-preneurs and eventually

excel in their small businessventures,’ DOLE RegionalDirector Leopoldo de Jesussaid in a statement.

The Labor Departmentallocated P6.3 million toprovide alternative live-lihood assistance all overthe region through the helpof the local governmentunits.

Representatives fromthe Social Security System(SSS) and the PhilippineHealth Insurance Cor-poration (PhilHealth) willlikewise orient them on theirrespective programs andservices. (PIA)

from page 1

Reflecting the deep changes it wants to imple-ment, the Bases Conversion and DevelopmentAuthority (BCDA) re-named itself and the restof the former US baselands to ‘The BasesGroup.’

Leading the charge to a new look, feeland purpose is BCDA chairman Felicito‘Tong’ Payumo, SBMA’s former chairmanand administrator.

More than the superficial logo, color orlook enhancement, The Bases Groupwants institutional changes.

‘A unified masterplan, harmonized sys-tems and common development goalsare the core objectives of this re-brandingeffort,’ Payumo told reporters recently.

BCDA wants to upgrade and link ClarkFreeport and Special Economic Zone(CFSEZ), Poro Point Freeport Zone(PPFZ), John Hay Special EconomicZone, and Bataan Technology Park.

Arnel Paciano D. Casanova, BCDA presi-dent and chief executive officer, said in astatement that the envisioned master plan‘shall lay the groundwork and generate thesynergy among the Bases Group.’

‘To collectively accelerate sustainableand inclusive national developmentgrounded on integrity, transparency, andaccountability,’ Paciano added.

As a result, coordination of plans andprojects is expected to ensure complemen-tary development and productive competi-tion among the four ecozones.

“While we cannot and will not rule outhealthy competition for investments amongthe ecozones -- say, between Subic and

Clark for manufacturing and logistics com-panies, or between Clark and John Hayfor call centers and BPO (business pro-cess outsourcing) -- there’s also a lot ofsupport between and synergy among themthat can be fostered,” Payumo explained.

With the help of then Clark DevelopmentCorporation (CDC) president RufoColayco, this inclusive and embracing phi-losophy characterist ic of Payumochanged the fierce competition situationof Subic Bay Freeport and Clark Economiczone to what it is today—Subic and Clark.

Payumo said that The Bases Group‘must become beacons of globally com-petitive and sustainable centers of eco-nomic activities that shall ripple and spreadthroughout their respective regions.’

BCDA identified Clark International Air-port, San Fernando sea and airport in LaUnion, Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway, themonorail loop system in southern MetroManila and the high-speed rail connectingthe national capital to Clark as infrastruc-ture thrusts of the master plan.

It added that all business processesand procedures in the four economic zoneswill be harmonized and simplified by 2013.

“By working together in a synchronizedprogram, the impact (of SCTEx, Luzon rail-ways or seaport) would be bigger,”Casanova said.

Olongapo News6

SCTEX toll feeup 19%Expect to pay more at the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway nextyear after the Bases Conversion and Development Authority(BCDA) asked the Toll Regulatory Board (TRB) for a toll hikenew year.

The proposed rates per kilome-ter for the highway’s 90.7-kmtollable length are P3.57 (Class1), P7.14 (Class 2) and P10.72(Class 3) and are also inclusiveof VAT, the notice states.

The tollway operator said theproposed increases comprised pe-riodic adjustments allowed by lawand as such were different fromvalue-added tax (VAT) adjustedrates imposed last Oct. 1.

‘The increase is due to theperiodic adjustment for SCTExwhich happens every year. Thepercent change is about 19% ...and this will be implemented Janu-

ary next year,’ reports quotedRodrigo E. Franco, Manila NorthTollways Corp. (MNTC) presi-dent and CEO.

The 19% hike means thatClass 1 (cars, jeepneys, pickups,vans) will pay rate to P324 fromP272. For Class 2 vehicles (lighttrucks and buses), the plannedrate is P648 from P543, and forClass 3 (trailers and largetrucks), the toll will rise to P972from P815.

The TRB said it would be hold-ing a public consultations on thetoll increase at its Pasig officewithin the month.

All ‘Gapo finals in Subic Bay CupThe Olongapo FC will face Gordon College FC in theSubic Bay Futsal Cup (PFCWC) Finals.

This, after the Makati-based Timog FC forfeitedtwo games by fieldingineligible players lastNovember 5.

In a statement, theAmihan Football Club(AFC), organizers of thecompetition, said that thetournament commissionersanctioned Timog FC forthe misconduct.

‘Team officials fieldedineligible players. This is notallowed and resulted toforfeiture of their gamesagainst Gordon College FC

and Lindberg FC,’ the AFCexplained.

Meanwhile, Balic-BalicElementary Kickers sweptall their games, pitting themagainst Barretto Elemen-tary in 8&Under finals.

The Kickers’ olderschoolmates, Balic-BalicElementary Yellow, edgedout the Lighthouse Strikersfor the top spot. They willplay each other for the11&Under finals match.

The tourney’s Opendivision winner gets a spotin the 11 team nationalfutsal finals in Manila.

The Magsaysay family, headedby former governor VicenteMagsaysay, meanwhile, have yetto disclose if they will contest thecongressional seat.

The planned poll will fill up theposition left by long time Zam-bales solon Antonio Diaz who diedAugust this year.

The House of Representativesis set to declare the position ofDiaz vacant.

This inititates the process forthe Comelec to hold special elec-tions.

According to poll body’sspokesman James Jimenez, theComelec en-banc will announcethe date of the election within themonth.

The late congressman Diazwas a member of the Magsaysayclan who have dominated the pro-vincial political landscape sincethe 1950’s.

The brightest of theMagsaysay star was formerPresident Ramon Magsaysay, anacionalista, who defeated re-electionist Elpidio Quirino in the1953 presidential polls.

In the recent 2010 elections,Diaz capitalized on his networkof scholars and their families tonarrowly defeat Cheryl Deloso,Amor Deloso’s daughter, 74,004votes to 68,407.

In the 2010 polls, the Magsay-says gave their support to incum-bent Gov. Jun Ebdane.(30)

Zambales polls soon, Comelec

EbdaneDeloso Magsaysay

from page 1

Moving out—A forklift places a container van-cum-office of Freeport authority’s Law Enforcement De-partment (LED) to give way to the Ayala Land’ Harbort Popint development.

By Daniel Jornales

Councilors ratify DBP landfill loanThe city council, voting 7-4, ratified a P400-million loan agreement with the Development Bankof the Philippines (DBP) for the conversion of the city's open dump site into a sanitary landfillrecently .

With the approval, the city gov-ernment only needs to secure theconsent of the host community forthe project to commence.

The project calls for the closureand rehabilitation of the currentdump site where a materials re-covery facility will be built.

In a statement, the city govern-ment said after the closure, a newsanitary landfi l l wil l be con-structed.

Health vs IncomeResidents say that many op-

pose the landfill project for healthand safety reasons.

'Ayaw namin ang dump site atayaw namin ang landfill. Kahit sabarangay ayaw 'yan,' a residentwho asked not to be identifiedsaid.

The mountain of trash serve aslivelihood for some of the family

along the perimeter of the landfill,but for others it’s a big problemthat seems have no solution.

'Problema 'yan kapag umuulan.Maamoy talaga ang basura. Angbaho,' a resident explained.

Others, however, welcome theproject saying it might bring inmore money for them.

'Sana kapag nagawa na, tuloylang kami mangalakal. Masmaraming basura ang ilagay nila,mas mabuti at mas malaki angkikitain namin,' a scavenger toldOlongapo News.

The Environment Departmenthas already issued several closureorders against the dumpsite butwas largely ignored by the citygovernment.

“If our controlled dumpsite isclosed we will have no place wherewe can dispose of our garbage.

The health of the people will be indanger. There will be a garbagecrisis in Olongapo if we don’t fol-

low the law,” Mayor James Gor-don, Jr., was quoted in reports.

Late last year, residents foiled

an attempt of city officials to al-low nearby provinces to dumpgarbage into the open dumpsiteas a way of generating income thethe local government badly needs.

The plan stirred a hornet’s nestwith residents putt ing up anfacebook page to counter the plan.

So intense was the issue thatCouncilor Jong Cortez resignedfrom the majority while Jamesdelos Reyes turned independent.

Both voted to against the mea-sure to accept garbage from otherareas or more popularly known asReolution 109, series of 2010.

Under existing laws, an opendump site is not allowed to ac-cept garbage from other areas.

The plan was eventually aban-doned in favor of the sanitary land-fill project, which under the law isallowed to take in garbage fromother areas.

Half a hill—This is the view at the bottom of the garbage ‘hill’ at the city’sopen dump site.