Majayjay mounts slow, failing battle vs. sludge from hog farms

This formed part of its moves to help agencies comply with the Supreme Court’s order in 2008 to continue cleaning up Manila Bay and restoring its waters to Class SB level, or those used for public bathing and swimming or fish spawning.

Recognizing that the town’s waste goes downstream and further contaminates Manila Bay, Majayjay’s municipal council approved an ordinance requiring households and businesses to install septic tanks in their homes and establishments, including piggeries. Designed to receive wastewater from drains and pipes, these watertight receptacles are also intended to collect, digest, and break down organic matter into sediments.

“We’re still working on trying to set separate regulations for small establishments,” said Emiterio C. Hernandez, who heads LLDA’s Environmental Regulations Department, referring to rules that also cover backyard hog farms that produce nearly 70 percent of the country’s swine supply. “It’s still not a priority.”

Under previous regulations, backyard farms had been exempted from securing discharge permits, as long as their daily water consumption was at 12 cubic meters or below. To enjoy the same privilege, those who owned hogs in commercial quantities took to distributing their litter among available backyard farms.Called ‘pa-iwi’ or ‘pa-alaga,’ the informal pig-raising arrangement is pervasive mostly in Central Luzon and CALABARZON, the top two hog-producing regions of the country.

Clado, who was re-elected in the 2019 polls, also said, though, that imposing hog-raising restrictions will definitely affect many residents. In another interview last November, he said that he was awaiting the approval of Majayjay’s 2017 comprehensive land-use plan before taking action against polluting hog-raisers.

The agency’s jurisdiction includes Laguna, Batangas, and Rizal, parts of Cavite, a town in Quezon, and some portions of Metro Manila. Waterways in these areas are covered by the LLDA because they flow into Laguna de Bay. The first, shuttered in May that year, was run by Primera Agro Development Corp., an animal feeds company with headquarters in Batangas and partly owned by Rosen Clado-Alcantara, a relative of the mayor.

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