Unlike Tuba which went to court with a Writ of Kalikasan suit concerning the Irisan trash woe, the capital town of La Trinidad, Benguet does not see the need to sue Baguio in relation to the lingering pollution problem of the Balili River.

“We don’t think we need that,” La Trinidad Mayor Greg Abalos Jr. said Thursday  in a forum by the Balili River System Revitalization Coalition themed “Save Balili River, count me in!”

Abalos said the fact that Baguio officials recognize the city’s huge contribution to the contamination of the dying river and their willingness to help in reviving it,  discount the filing of Writ of Kalikasan.

“They candidly accepted that 80 percent, reportedly, of the pollutants in Balili comes from city. But we are not resorting to finger pointing here. We are more concerned about how much we can do to clean the river,” Abalos said.

He added that the situation with the city is a geographical reality, and all the two local government units could do is to help each other in stopping the demise of Balili.

City Environment and Parks Management Office Head Cordelia Lacsamana said in the same forum that Baguio City has been implementing measures to clean the waters of the river through the four tributaries traversing the city.

She said that they are prioritizing sustainable management of inland water sources, which is also in line with the city’s being a pioneering local government unit in South East Asia that has a Water Code.

She added that among the city’s initiatives is the conduct of an inventory of the city’s sewer system to the households that are disposing their wastes directly to the river.

Lacsamana, who heads the Balili River Coalition committee on governance for Baguio, said its advocacy program on Balili River includes institutionalized water dialogues with the 66 barangays abutting the Sagudin creek, which are regularly being monitored and evaluated.

She also reported that in 2010 the city fished out 15 tons of garbage from the river and 35 tons in 2011. Also last year, 41 households along the river within city premises were issued notices of violation of the mandatory connection of households into the city’s sewer system.

She added the clean-up activities led by the city at Balili River aim to encourage residents to police their own areas and develop political will at the community level.