ROCKINGHAM, North Carolina—Am just resting up here despite the cold weather (hovering at 30 degrees last time I checked) along with hubby Ronnie Dennis and while there are lots of developments to discuss in the US front courtesy of President Trump, I’ll take sometime to talk about the latest goings-on in Cagayan de Oro City, Misamis Oriental in northern Mindanao, Philippines.
What got my attention was a Facebook post I read on my social media feed made by Engr. Armen Cuenca of the City Local Environment and Natural Resources Office (CLENRO). On reading it, I was astonished at the absurdity of Cuenca’s allegation which was curiously timed as it is during election season 2025.
Apparently, Engr. Cuenca made a surprising and admittedly wild claim that former Cagayan de Oro City Mayor Oscar Moreno allegedly moved to have the garbage in Balingasag town, Misamis Oriental dumped in the City of Golden Friendship. How OSM managed to do that is bewildering to say the least since Cuenca is suggesting that Moreno still wields some influence in his hometown of Balingasag.
Last I checked Balingasag is under the leadership of my classmate Mayor Alexis Quina. And it is quite clean and prosperous for a town its size and not because it’s dumping its garbage at Cagayan de Oro which is an hour and 17 minutes worth of travel time one way at either point of origin/destination or a good 56.8 kilometers away.
And even during his tenure as mayor, the last three of which was burdened by the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, I believe and know that OSM wasn’t desperate nor stupid to decide on allowing Balingasag’s garbage to be dumped into Cagayan de Oro City’s landfill site in Barangay Pagalungan. So I have to ask: what and where’s the evidence that Engr. Cuenca has to support his allegation?
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The last time I checked the Balingasag My Home Facebook page—the Balingasag municipal hall’s official Facebook page—the town is acknowledged for its economic dynamism and intensive infrastructure program, something that its more supposedly prosperous neighbor Cagayan de Oro City looked to have forgotten. So I have to ask: Where is Engr. Cuenca’s source of evidence to back up his claim?
I also read the Facebook post of Atty. Ban Pacuribot of the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB-10) inviting Engr. Cuenca for a meeting on January 20 to shed light on actions taken regarding the garbage problem in the city.
In contrast to Cagayan de Oro City, Balingasag appears to be be well managed and I haven’t heard of any problem about its garbage. I highly doubt that the town’s residents engage in littering and if there any issues, they are addressed in accordance with the law.
But it gets more serious for Cuenca and City Hall. Based on what I read at Mindanao Gold Star Daily, the EMB-10 issued a show cause order to City Hall for several environmental violations, not least of which is its failure to operationalize the landfill’s waste water treatment plant despite the plant being commissioned since August last year.
And I also gathered from reliable sources that City Hall’s contracted garbage collector is unable to meet its collection targets as stipulated in their agreement despite receiving millions of pesos in payment from the city. I learned that Cuenca called for a ‘summit’ to discuss with the garbage collector and the barangay captains about the city’s mounting garbage problem.
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Concerning the waste water treatment facility, Cuenca was quoted as saying the contractor assured them that the three-phase electrical connection to the plant will be completed by March this year. But in an interview with a radio station broadcast at their Facebook page, Engr. Cuenca insinuated that corruption may have occured that prevented the completion of the connection as early as 2021.
Again, Cuenca is making allegations of corruption committed by the previous Moreno administration which amounts to hearsay. And again, I join the others in telling Cuenca to produce evidence to substantiate his allegations lest he be called out and proven wrong to the embarassment of his superiors. But the garbage problem is more than just a political issue, it is a grave environmental and health problem that can escalate into a crisis if abandoned to its present course by CLENRO.
The Moreno administration has shown the way by building the city’s own landfill site in compliance to the Solid Waste Management Act and it would be a damn shame if all its efforts go to waste, pun intended, by the incumbent administration at City Hall. But I understand that the city’s mounting garbage problem is but one of many problems that City Hall has yet to adequately resolve.
As a department head, Cuenca represents City Hall and his actions, while possibly politically motivated, are unjustifiable. Little wonder who may be pulling his strings and I can only hazard a guess—namely the local administration’s so-called ‘advisors’ who of course are earning their keep courtesy of taxpayer’s money.
