DEPARTMENT of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Secretary Ramon Paje has warned those who indiscriminately throw their garbage and liquid in public places and bodies of water in the metropolis that they would be suffering the same fate as that of three individuals who were earlier sentenced by a court for dumping liquid waste into a canal in Caloocan City.

Paje made the warning as he hailed the decision of Caloocan City Regional Trial Court Branch 27 Judge Victoriano Cabanos for convicting Allan Lumanog, Ariel Olaje and Arwin Reyes from six to 10 years of imprisonment after they were found guilty of violation of Republic Act (RA) 9275, also known as the Philippine Clean Water Act of 2004.

Court records showed that officials of Bgy. Bagong Silang caught the three accused emptying the contents of 46 plastic carbon containers into a canal.

When the technical staff of Environmental Management Bureau- National Capital Region (EMB-NCR) tested the liquid waste, they found out that it contained high concentrations of copper and zinc. Such compounds are classified as hazardous wastes under DENR Administrative Order 2004-36, which strengthen the implementation of RA 6969, or the Toxic Substances and Hazardous and Nuclear Waste Control Act of 1990.

Barangay officials acted on residents’ complaints of a foul smell in their area, and traced the smell to containers on board a parked passenger jeepney. This further led them to a nearby house, inside which was an open canal that eventually drained to a nearby creek. It was in the house where the barangay officials saw the accused unloading the containers.