NO ENTRY The road leading to the Kalangitan sanitary landfill inside NewClark City in Capas, Tarlac, has been blocked since Jan. 3, forcing the closure of the area that served over 100 localities in Central and Northern Luzon. 鈥擟ontributed photo
MABALACAT CITY, PAMPANGA, Philippines 鈥� The 100-hectare Kalangitan sanitary landfill inside New Clark City in Capas town, Tarlac, was forced to cease operations last month after the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) blocked the road leading to the facility.
Metro Clark Waste Management Corp. (MCWMC), which operated the landfill since 2002, disclosed this on Tuesday.
In a text message, MCWMC executive vice president Victoria Gaetos said they had to halt operations after the access roads to the landfill鈥攕erving over 100 local government units in Central and Northern Luzon, as well as hundreds of businesses in the Clark and Subic Bay Freeport zones鈥攚ere closed off.
鈥淜alangitan has been closed since Jan. 3 鈥� The BCDA blocked the road to the landfill,鈥� she said.
Gaetos, however, did not say if they would continue to fight to get the landfill reopened amid a protracted legal battle with BCDA over the area.
鈥楴o legal right鈥�
BCDA vice president for public affairs Leilani Macasaet-Barlongay, when sought for comment, said in a text message Tuesday that she still needed to check with the agency鈥檚 operations department.
The communication department of Clark Development Corp. (CDC), which directly operates the freeport where the landfill is located, gave a similar response.
On Jan. 7, BCDA asserted in a statement that MCWMC had no legal right to continue operating the Kalangitan landfill since its 25-year lease contract with the government had expired on Oct. 6, 2024.
The Angeles City government, which had been disposing of its waste at the Kalangitan landfill until its closure on Jan. 3, now temporarily stores garbage at a large transfer station in Capaya village before transporting it to a materials recovery facility in nearby Porac, Pampanga, according to Irish Calaguas, chief adviser to Mayor Carmelo Lazatin Jr.
It was not known where most of the affected localities were sending their trash. But Baguio City, which also used to patronize the Kalangitan landfill, is now utilizing a facility in Urdaneta City, Pangasinan.
On Feb. 13, BCDA scored a victory when the Court of Appeals (CA) nullified a Tarlac court鈥檚 order that barred CDC and BCDA from evicting MCWMC from the landfill.
The CA鈥檚 10th Division said the Capas Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 66 lacked jurisdiction to issue a temporary restraining order (TRO) and a writ of preliminary injunction (WPI) against a government build-operate-transfer (BOT) project.
The appellate court ruled that the 25-year contract between CDC and MCWMC鈥檚 parent company鈥擥erman consortium Ingenieurb眉ro Birkhahn + Nolte GmbH and Heers & Brockstedt GmbH & Co. Kg鈥攕igned on Oct. 6, 1999, for the development of an integrated waste management center鈥攚as a BOT project.
The CA said Capas RTC Judge Leo Haban had 鈥渃ommitted grave abuse of discretion鈥� by granting these orders in favor of MCWMC, as only the Supreme Court has the authority to issue restraining orders and injunctions against government projects, including those under the BOT scheme.
It noted that national government projects and the conversion of military reservations are explicitly included in the list of cases where lower courts are prohibited from granting such orders.
Forum shopping?
Additionally, the CA ruled that MCWMC had engaged in forum shopping by filing multiple lawsuits in different courts to obtain a favorable ruling on the same issue.
On June 11, 2024, about four months before its contract expired, MCWMC filed a case with the Angeles City RTC seeking to enforce an 鈥渁utomatic renewal clause鈥� that would extend the contract for another 25 years.
While that case was still pending at RTC Branch 114, MCWMC filed a separate complaint with the Capas RTC on Oct. 4, 2024, seeking a 72-hour TRO, which was granted the same day. The court later extended the TRO until Oct. 24 and, on Oct. 29, issued a WPI, indefinitely barring CDC and BCDA from evicting MCWMC from the landfill.
Nullified
The Capas RTC鈥檚 injunction came just eight days after Angeles City RTC Branch 114 dismissed MCWMC鈥檚 case, citing 鈥渇ailure to state a cause of action, prescription, and willful and deliberate forum shopping.鈥�
In its ruling, the CA nullified all orders issued by Capas RTC Branch 66, including the TROs and WPI. It also dismissed MCWMC鈥檚 injunction complaint.
According to the CA, the orders dated Oct. 4, Oct. 8, and Oct. 29 last year were 鈥渘ullified and set aside,鈥� and the complaint for injunction filed by MCWMC was dismissed.