Some business owners are appealing to the municipality of La Trinidad, Benguet not to close their chicken dung stalls in Barangay Shilan.
In a letter to Mayor Romeo Salda, members of the Shilan Chicken Manure Truckers and Farmers Association are asking for the non-implementation of Resolution 141-2022 pursuing the closure of all businesses engaged in the storage and selling of chicken dung in the municipality.
Salda said the stakeholders had a dialogue on Sept. 16 for the implementation of the resolution. This resulted in the agreement that the chicken dung operators should close their businesses by Sept. 30.
However, the operators wrote a letter dated Sept. 21 asking for the delay in the implementation of the resolution. The group said the storage of chicken manure has improved as almost all of the trucks have wing vans or canvass preventing the manure from getting wet during the rainy season, which causes the foul odor.
The operators will also follow up before the provincial board the proposed ordinance of La Trinidad in 2009, which seeks to regulate the sale of chicken dung in the town.
Salda said he has forwarded the letter of the operators to the town council for action.
Resolution 141-2022 states there has been a sudden increase of businesses of storing and trading chicken dung particularly in Shilan.
It cited several letters of protest from residents of Shilan who asked for the closure of these businesses due to the unpleasant and hazardous odor of the chicken manure.
The resolution also cited the decision of the Court of Appeals in the case of La Trinidad against 20 individuals engaged in chicken dung business in Dengsi, Tomay, and Shilan, where the CA upheld the Benguet Regional Trial Court’s ruling that the chicken dung business in these areas is a nuisance.
In 1994, the Benguet RTC ordered the immediate ban on selling and storing chicken dung in the three areas.
In 2009, the municipal council of La Trinidad passed an ordinance regulating the sale of chicken dung but the provincial board declared it invalid, citing the RTC’s decision.
“Considering that several businesses engaged in the storage and trading of chicken dung sprouted recently, the health and well-being of the residents and visitors alike would be affected by the obnoxious, unpleasant, intolerable smell being emitted by the storage and trading of chicken dung. Thus, there is now an urgent need for the immediate closure of said businesses by the appropriate agencies,” the resolution stated.
In 2010, then mayor Gregorio Abalos, Jr. issued Administrative Order 008-2010 that prohibits the sale, disposal and storage of chicken dung in the municipality.
Salda said the municipality had also waited for the decision of the Benguet RTC on the 2018 petition for injunction lodged by some affected businessmen in Shilan,who assailed the closure order of the mayor. The RTC denied the petition and also recognized the 2010 administrative order as valid.
Municipal Legal Officer Victor Singa Jr. said the municipality will implement the resolution since it has a basis.
Councilor Bartolome Baldas, Jr., head of the committee on laws where the appeal was lodged, said the committee will discuss its action on the letter.
The committee’s action will be presented during the provincial board meeting on Oct. 18. – Ofelia C. Empian
April 26, 2024
