Residents of Barangay Imok, Calauan, Laguna condemned the police and the mayor’s personnel for intimidating and coercing them to remove posters opposing the planned establishment of a landfill in their community. They opposed turning the area into a dumpsite. The harassment took place on February 11.

Residents said they received a letter from Calauan Public Information Officer Erwin Sacluti after the incident claiming there was no landfill or waste-dumping project in Barangay Imok. His office also warned against those who would spread information that a landfill project was being planned in the area.

But the official Facebook page of the Sangguniang Bayan of Calauan stated the project “Calauan Integrated Sanitary Landfill and Waste Management Facility” passed its second reading during the regular council session on February 12. Calauan Mayor Roseller Caratihan even threatened to file charges against anyone who opposed the plan.

The project will cover 84.23 hectares of Barangay Imok, including a 1,400-meter access road. It sits on the boundary between Calauan and San Pablo City, and would affect five barangays of San Pablo. If continued, 5,000 tons of waste—equivalent to more than 250 truckloads of garbage—will be dumped into the landfill daily. South Luzon Waste Management Corporation owns the project.

Residents suspect the local government is deliberately misleading them about the project. While denying it publicly, the municipal council is formally discussing and pushing it forward without consulting affected communities. They said the local government is neglecting its duty to listen and to release clear studies on the project’s impacts on livelihood, health, and the environment.

“If there’s no project, why silence the people? Why deploy the police against simple calls for accountability?” some residents said. They asserted their stand against the project is just and that they should not be threatened or harassed.