CLOSED A cease-and-desist order from the DENR-Environmental Management Bureau is displayed at the entrance of the open dump at Barangay Naugsol in Subic, Zambales. The site, located within an Aeta ancestral domain, was ordered closed for violating the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act. —Joanna Rose Aglibot
SUBIC, ZAMBALES, Philippines — Aeta leaders in this town said the decision to allow a portion of their ancestral domain to be used as a temporary garbage disposal site was made with the tribe’s consent at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, when lockdowns disrupted the transport of waste to accredited sanitary landfills outside the province.
In an interview on Sunday, Aeta Ambala Chieftain Francis Santos said he was familiar with the discussions held in 2020, having served on the tribal council before assuming the post of chieftain in April this year.
Santos said the Subic municipal government sought the community’s approval after explaining that travel restrictions had prevented garbage from being transported to an accredited sanitary landfill outside Zambales.
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