THE operator and lessee of the 100-hectare sanitary landfill in Tarlac sought judicial intervention to prevent a looming massive garbage crisis in Central and Northern Luzon.
Metro Clark Waste Management Corp. (MCWMC), operator of Kalangitan landfill, said that its contract of lease and services is not expiring in October.
MCWMC said that it sought reformation of Instrument, fixing of period and specific performance and damages against the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) and Clark Development Corp. (CDC) on June 11, 2024 before the Angeles Regional Trial Court Branch 114.
"It is now up to the courts to decide on the issue," it said.
"It is neither the BCDA nor CDC who will decide what happens now. We leave it all to the Courts to resolve this issue once and for all," said Vicky Gaetos, executive vice president of MCWMC.
"Our contract with CDC has two components: a lease and a service contract. The service contract is expiring in October, but the lease is not expiring. In fact, we have 50 years under RA 7652," Gaetos said.
"The lease contract grants us use of the 100-hectares for an integrated waste management center (Article II, Section 1 of the contract). Since the lease is not expiring, we can continue to dispose at the landfill, even after 2024," Gaetos said.
"As they have not been responsive to our request for years, we have filed for reformation of Instrument, so that the contract accurately reflects the intention of the parties, and fixing of period, so the court can determine what is the correct period for the lease," she added.
"We are supported by law," Gaetos said, citing RA 7652, or the Investors Lease Act and Executive Order (EO) 429 issued in 1997 by then-president Fidel Ramos.
Republic Act 7652, which was passed in 1993, allows foreign investors to enter into long-term leases of land for productive investments.
EO 429 granted the same privilege to local investors to lease lands for a period not exceeding 50 years, with option for one time renewal of 25 years.
The German consortium that made the investment to construct the Integrated Waste Management Center was attracted by RA 7652 and invested on that basis, with the understanding that they would get the 50-year lease.
"Both parties, ourselves and CDC at the time the contract was signed, were in understanding that this was a long-term lease that gave us up to 50 years," said engineer Holger Holst, MCWMC's chairman and technical director.
"In fact, a detailed BCDA Master Plan from 2017 clearly shows the Kalangitan landfill present there for multiple phases. Section 4.9 entitled 'Solid Waste Management' clearly shows that the facility is there until the year 2065," Holst said.
"I think CDC, BCDA and the DENR (Department of Environment and Natural Resources) should really look into the feasibility of the identified alternative facilities being able to take over the volume of the region's waste in October," he added.
"The capacity numbers being quoted are from permits and planned capacities. But capacity to handle waste today is nowhere near that, and it takes much much longer than a few months to build that much capacity," Holst said.
The MCWM said it will continue to focus on servicing the waste management needs of their customers.
"We hope that we can come to an amicable solution to this problem, which will affect so many millions of residents in Region 3 (Central Luzon) and Pangasinan, even up to Baguio. We leave it to our legal team, and ultimately to the courts to decide what happens next. In the meantime, we'll continue to work and serve our customers and communities," Gaetos said.
MCWMC said the company will continue its operation beyond October until the case is decided by the court, adding that if BCDA insists on the closure of the operation, they will file a temporary restraining order.
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