Republic of the Philippines

COMMISSION ON AUDIT
Local Government Sector
Nueva Ecija B & Aurora - Team No. 27
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AOM No. 2019-002
Date: January 10, 2019

AUDIT OBSERVATION MEMORANDUM (AOM)

For: HON. ALEXANDER A. DAUS

Municipal Mayor
Municipality of Laur, Nueva Ecija

Attention : Solid Waste Management Board

Municipality of Laur, Nueva Ecija

We have audited the compliance of the Municipality on the Republic Act No. 9003 or the
Solid Waste Management Act of 2000 and noted the following deficiencies:

The Municipality did not substantially comply with the provisions of Republic Act No. 9003 or
the Solid Waste Management (SWM) Act of 2000 on the formulation and implementation of
ecological solid waste management plans and programs, thus total protection of the
environment and general welfare of the constituents have not been attained.

Republic Act No. 9003 or Solid Waste Management Act of 2000 plays an important role in the
economic transformation of a community particularly mitigating the environmental and health
risks posed by uncollected and untreated garbage. Management of solid waste has always been a
challenge in Municipality of Laur and one of the areas that require attention.

The Local Government of Laur has made efforts both at municipal and barangay levels aimed at
improving the way solid waste is managed. This has mainly been through building the capacity
of local governments to ensure proper segregation, collection, transport of garbage. Despite these
interventions, challenges still persist in the management of municipal solid waste.

In CY 2017, the audit team conducted and submitted its observations and recommendations on
the management of solid waste by the Municipality. The audit sought to ascertain the extent of
compliance to which the Municipality had established in their solid waste management system to
facilitate the segregation, collection, transportation and disposal of garbages within the
Municipality and its component barangays. The following audit observations were noted in the
audit:
a. Mandatory segregation of wastes at source were not implemented
b. Observation of the No Collection Policy was only partial
 c. No holding area for residual wastes that are for pick up by the service provider
d. No identified lot that is appropriate for the establishment of Material Recovery
Facility (MRF)
e. No ordinance passed for the “No Littering,” “Segregation of Wastes at Source,”
and “No segregation/No Collection” policies

From the above observations, the audit team recommended and the management agreed that the
Local Chief Executive will:
a. recommend to the Sangguniang Bayan the passing of ordinance/s that will define the
SWM policies that are LGU-specific and shall include, among others, the (i) provision of
incentives; and (iii) the declaration of certain acts as prohibited with their corresponding
penalties;
b. issue corresponding orders that will operationalize these policies that will cover, among
others, the identification of (i) the offices concerned; (ii) their related mandates, functions
and responsibilities; and (iii) the operating procedures;
c. prioritize the acquisition of land to be used for MRF and as temporary holding area of
Residual Containment Bins; and
d. impose timelines for the implementation of SWM programs, monitor the same and
address the noted lapses.

For the current year, the team decided to carry out a follow up to establish the extent to which
municipality had implemented the recommendations in the 2017 audit report as stated above;
assess whether or not there have been other deficiencies or improvements in management of
solid waste in the municipality and ascertain whether any new recommendations are needed.
Thus, the progress of implementation on each recommendation is further discussed below:

1. Ordinance/s that will define the LGU-specific SWM policies

In addition to the existing national legal frame work, municipal councils are expected to
come up with municipal specific legal framework in the form of resolution and ordinances.
These are drafted by the technical executive officers and should be comprehensive covering
aspects such as collection, transportation, disposal, fees and charges, penalties and offences.
Once the drafts are developed they are reviewed and submitted to council for approval. After
approval by council, these drafts are submitted to the proper authority for review and
confirmation that they do not conflict with any existing laws, regulations and guidelines.
Once approved, these laws and ordinances are widely disseminated to create awareness and
to foster compliance.

We noted that there were no additional corresponding local ordinances and/or resolutions
passed to implement mandate of SWM, except with the Municipality’s Environmental Code,
which expressed in general terms the framework espoused by RA No. 9003. Hence, the
offices concerned their related mandates, functions and responsibilities as far as SWM is
concerned, and the operating procedures were not clearly identified and defined.

From the foregoing, we want to remind that the institutionalization of these legal
frameworks, coupled with proper awareness in community and monitoring of the
 implementation of the programs, the sustainability, effectiveness and purpose of the
programs could have been more successfully achieved.

2. Operational policies and procedures pertaining to SWM System

This is a responsibility of the Solid Waste Management Board. The process of developing a
solid waste management policy and strategy commences with undertaking an analysis of the
existing situation. This is done through collecting and analysing data in addition to
consultations with the local community. This data is used to come up with a draft policy
which is also discussed and validated by the different stakeholders including the barangay
government. This is then followed by developing an implementation strategy through which
this policy will be implemented. The policy and strategy details the series of activities that
will be undertaken in the short and long term.

It was noted that there is still no clear-cut solid waste management policy and strategy
adopted by the municipality. Interviews with one of the members of the SWM board revealed
that although the process of formulating a solid waste management policy commenced in
2012, the policy is still in draft form pending the completion and approval.

Thus, we reiterate that in order to achieve the short term and long term municipal solid waste
management aspirations embodied in Republic Act No. 9003, municipalities should create
policies and implement strategies which are aligned with the national solid waste objectives
and strategies. Without an approved policy, a good solid waste management strategy cannot
be developed. This will result in disjointed planning and may result in duplication of
activities and hinder coordination between the key players to achieve a common national
solid waste management goal.

3. Land for Materials Recovery Facility/Temporary holding are of residual containment bins

Despite consistent reminders to implement and prioritize solid waste management projects
and activities covered by regular appropriation, as of this writing, the Municipality still failed
to build the Materials Recovery Facility as required by RA No. 9003.

Management reasoned out that the non-establishment of MRF was due to difficulty in finding
the appropriate lot therefor. Inasmuch as appropriation was already provided in CY 2016,
which was carried forward as a continuing appropriation in CY 2017, it shall remain as such
as of this writing.

Further, the Municipality is using a temporary Residual Containment Bin provided by the
MCSWMC that will serve as a storage facility of the collected wastes. The parties agreed that
the latter will collect the residual waste of the Municipality on “on call basis” for a fee. Once
the volume is already enough for pick up, the Municipal Engineer will call MCSWMC to
pick up these unsegregated wastes.
 Residual Containment Bin located at Brgy. Sagana, Laur, Nueva Ecija

4. Implementation and Monitoring of SWM programs

Implementation of these SWM laws is done by the SWM enforcement officers identified in
their 10-Year SWM Plan. Enforcement entails coming up with enforcement work plans and
ensuring that the planned enforcement activities are undertaken. Accordingly, enforcement
officers should also conduct periodic inspections within the municipality to ascertain if the
provisions of the bylaws are being complied with. This is usually done for commercial
buildings in all barangays and places such as markets, parks, where cases of non-compliance
are noted, and the offenders are apprehended and penalised as obligated by the bylaws.

It was observed that the current system of enforcement was not effective in supporting solid
waste management objectives. Hence, the following audit observations are still noticeable:

1. Planning and budgeting

Best practice requires government agencies such as Municipality of Laur to collect

data about the growth of waste in the community, analyze the factors contributing to
the growth of waste such as growth, industrial developments and changing
consumption habits of residents to give accurate inputs for planning and budgeting
purposes.

We observed that Management and its divisions were not regularly updating their
data base to reflect the changing environment in solid waste management.

In the absence an up to date information, the Management cannot carry out a proper
assessment of waste being generated in the locality and therefore do not have well
researched information on solid waste for proper strategic development and decision
making.

Therefore, their plans and budgets were not realistic because they were not based on
proper assessment of garbage generated and this resulted in failure to adequately
address the challenges of garbage collection and disposal in the Municipality.
2. Mandatory segregation of wastes at source

It can still be noticed that waste receptacles/bins or trash cans with markings for
biodegradable and non-biodegradable for segregation were not maintained in many
public areas. Even the Municipal Hall compound was observed to have limited trash
cans around without marking.

3. Collection Policy adopted by the Municipality

Confirmation disclosed that collections of wastes are only done by the Municipality
within the public market and its nearby commercial/business establishments without
definite schedule of collection as well as identified collection points. Since no
collection of wastes were done from the households, the traditional practice of
burning garbage on their backyard or disposed them to an uncontrolled dumpsite is
still carried out.

Uncollected garbages at Brgy. III, Laur, Nueva Ecija

4. Solid Waste Management Awareness

According to Republic Act No. 9003, members of the public are supposed to be
educated in matters of waste management such as; sorting/separation of waste
according to their categories of organic and inorganic, waste minimization and
adherence to waste management laws.

It was noted through interviews with households, market vendors and through
documentary reviews that solid waste awareness campaigns were not conducted by
Municipality. We were informed that little information about waste management was
being exchanged during the local council meetings

Lack of solid waste management awareness campaigns has led to unacceptable and
prohibited waste management practices such as indiscriminate littering and disposal
of garbage.
 The above weaknesses in implementation and monitoring were attributed to non-
prioritization of the programs, projects and activities through adequate planning and resource
allocation. A weak system of enforcement negatively affects the effective administration of
such laws and other regulations and guidelines which are critical in supporting the solid
waste management function.

It can be gleaned from the foregoing that the management of municipal solid waste in Laur is
still a challenge as demonstrated by the majority of municipalities within the Philippines. The
deficiencies noted above may result in conditions which may be prejudicial to the interest of its
constituents on the aspect of public health and environmental hazards.

In order to realise the broader objectives of safeguarding and promoting public health by
maintaining clean towns and protecting the environment, municipalities need to prioritise
management of solid waste in their short and long-term plans as well as strengthen the
monitoring, supervision and enforcement mechanisms. Otherwise, the total protection of the
environment and general welfare of the constituents in harmony with economic development
may not be substantially attained.

We recommend that the Local Chief Executive:

a) recommend to the Sangguniang Bayan the passing of ordinance/s that will define the
SWM policies that are LGU-specific which are also in line with the national
framework
b) develop Solid Waste Management Policies & Strategy so as to align it with the
current trends and developments in solid waste and environmental management.
c) ensure that a database is created on all the variables in solid waste management
which should be updated regularly to enhance the appropriateness of budgets.
d) take appropriate action to expedite the purchase of land as well as the establishment
of Materials Recovery Facility;
e) impose timelines for the implementation of SWM programs, monitor the same and
address the noted lapses.

May we have your comments on the foregoing observation within fifteen (15) calendar
days from receipt hereof.

HADIYAH A. ALIÑO
OIC-Audit Team Leader

VIRGINIA A. YACAT
OIC-Supervising Auditor
 PROOF OF SERVICE OF COPIES OF AOM

Received by
Name Position/Office Date
(Signature )

Alexander A. Daus Municipal Mayor

Roland Corpuz OIC-MPDC