NIGHT COLLECTION Sanitation workers collect garbage from hotels and restaurants in downtown Baguio during the city’s nightly collection. The waste, segregated in clear plastic bags, is sorted into residual and biodegradable materials as part of Baguio’s circular economy program. —VINCENT CABREZA
BAGUIO CITY—A 2015 Supreme Court ruling that struck down Quezon City’s garbage fee ordinance is guiding Baguio City’s proposed environmental fees, with local lawmakers seeking to ensure that new charges for garbage collection, wastewater management and tourism are fair, equitable and legally defensible.
The city council resumed deliberations on June 29 on proposed amendments to the Baguio Environment Code and sanitation ordinances that would increase household garbage collection fees from P20 to P100 a month, impose a wastewater regulatory fee equivalent to 16 percent of a household’s water consumption and collect a P100 environmental user fee from visitors, including tourists.
Councilor Peter Fianza, a lawyer and former city administrator, said the council has been using the Supreme Court ruling in Jose Ferrer Jr. v. Herbert Bautista (G.R. No. 210551, June 30, 2015) as a guide in crafting the proposed ordinances.