Sto. Domingo, Ilocos Sur Mayor Amado Tadena and his predecessor Floro Tadena were convicted by the Sandiganbayan of violation of the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act (Republic Act No. 9003).
During their re-arraignment, the accused, with the assistance of their counsel, changed their plea from “not guilty” to “guilty.”
They were sentenced to each pay a fine of P1,000.00.
Records show that from 2004 to 2012, the accused failed to close the temporary open dumpsite located in Brgy. Sto. Tomas and allowed the municipality’s hospital to use the area as its disposal site.
Section 37 of R.A. No. 9003 provides that no open dumps shall be established and operated, nor any practice or disposal of solid waste by any person, including local government units (LGUs), which constitutes the use of open dumps for solid wastes, be allowed after the effectivity of this Act in 2001: provided, that within three years after the effectivity of this Act, every LGU shall convert its open dumps into controlled dumps, in accordance with the guidelines set in Section 41 of this Act: provided, further, that no controlled dumps shall be allowed five years following the effectivity of this Act. ###