CAPAS, Tarlac (October 8, 2024) — A local court here extended the Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) it issued last Saturday by an additional 17 days — or until Oct. 24, 2024 — to the landfill operator Metro Clark Waste Management Corporation (MCWMC).
The Regional Trial Court Branch 66 here issued a temporary reprieve against the Clark Development Corporation (CDC), a Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) subsidiary, from taking over the facility. The same court first issued a 72-hour TRO last Saturday.
MCWMC is seeking a permanent injunction against the BCDA and the CDC over the rights to the facility.
The 100-hectare Kalangitan Sanitary Landfill has a daily waste collection capacity of 4,000 tons to 5,000 tons. It is serving some 150 local government units in Central and Northern Luzon, including hospitals in Metro Manila and Baguio City.
A statement posted on the Facebook page of the BCDA said that it “will comply with this latest court order in connection with its contract with MCWMC.”
The MCWMC maintains that the lease agreement with the CDC on the property is valid until 2049, however, the BCDA subsidiary said that the contract expired on October 6, 2024.
The CDC’s decision not to renew the lease agreement is based on a legal opinion from the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel (OGCC), the CDC’s statutory counsel. The opinion states that extending the contract between CDC and MCWMC beyond its expiration would violate the Build-Operate-Transfer Law, which governs the bidding and awarding of contracts for this project.
According to BCDA President and CEO Joshua Bingcang, they are keen on the development and increase of the economic value of the property currently covered by a Contract for Service with MCWMC.
“At the expiration of the Contract for Service, MCWMC should promptly vacate and deliver the property, inclusive of all new constructions and improvements introduced during the term of the contract, to the Clark Development Corporation,” the BCDA chief wrote back in April.
