The chicken dung dealers operating in Barangay Shilan, La Trinidad, Benguet were given until March 14 to voluntarily vacate their staging areas without interference of the police and government personnel.
This, as Mayor Romeo Salda said most of the dealers still continue with their operation without permits and despite several closure orders.
Three chicken dung operators have voluntarily vacated the area, as they are already applying for a permit in nearby Tublay.
Salda said the permanent solution to the problem is for the operators to transfer in Tublay, which has an ordinance allowing for the operation of chicken dung business in its jurisdiction. Tublay is host to several chicken dung dealers scattered along the Halsema Highway.
Chicken dung is a popular and traditional soil conditioner among vegetable farmers in northern Benguet, Mountain Province, and Ifugao.
The La Trinidad municipal council upheld Administrative Order 8-2010 issued on July 23, 2010 which prohibits the sale, disposal and storage of chicken dung in the municipality, declaring it a public nuisance. Concerned residents of Shilan also wrote letters to the municipality regarding the chicken dung operation as a nuisance.
Municipal Legal Officer Victor Singa, Jr. said there are 18 staging areas of chicken dung found along the Halsema Highway in Shilan during site inspection conducted last January.
Singa said with the continuous defiance of the operators, the municipal task force has decided to initiate the closure of these staging areas on March 14.
The task force shall then be coordinating with the PNP and the barangay officials of Shilan for the enforcement of the closure orders.
Last year, the municipal council has recommended to the mayor the closure of all chicken dung trading, distribution, and storage in the municipality based on AO 8-2010. – Ofelia C. Empian
April 25, 2024
