BAGUIO CITY — The Supreme Court has ruled in favor of the Municipality of Bontoc, ending a 14-year legal dispute over the former Matoytoy-ok open dumpsite in Barangay Caluttit, Mountain Province.

The high court granted the municipality's petition and set aside portions of the Court of Appeals' 2013 and 2014 resolutions that ordered the excavation and removal of buried waste without first conducting a mandatory technical and feasibility study.

The case began in 2012 when the Kalinga Anti-Pollution Action Group and other petitioners sought a Writ of Kalikasan and a Writ of Continuing Mandamus, alleging that the dumpsite was polluting the Chico River.

In response, the municipal government under then Mayor Pascual Sacgaca partnered with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the Environmental Management Bureau. The parties entered into a court-approved agreement in 2013, and by September that year, the municipality had permanently closed the dumpsite and completed rehabilitation measures.

Despite compliance reports, the Court of Appeals directed local authorities in December 2013 to remove all accumulated garbage within 30 days.

The municipality, then under Mayor Franklin Odsey, challenged the order before the Supreme Court, arguing that excavating the buried waste violated the 2013 agreement, which required a technical study to determine whether such action was feasible.

In 2023, a composite technical team composed of environmental officials, geologists, and municipal personnel assessed the rehabilitated site and the nearby Chico River.

The team concluded that the former dumpsite no longer posed a threat to the river's water quality and warned that excavating the buried waste could trigger geological instability and create significant environmental risks, making the proposal technically unfeasible.

Citing the findings, the Supreme Court nullified the appellate court's directives and formally ended the case.

Bontoc Vice Mayor Alsannyster Patingan, who served as legal counsel for the municipality together with Attys. Seichi Ofo-ob and Edward Chumawar Jr., said excavating the waste would have undone years of rehabilitation work and exposed the surrounding environment to new hazards.

Since the closure of the Matoytoy-ok dumpsite, the municipality has expanded its waste management program through the Am-ancho Waste Management Facility in Barangay Bontoc Ili.

Following the approval of its 10-Year Solid Waste Management Plan in 2018, the local government has continued implementing waste segregation, recycling, composting, and other measures in compliance with Republic Act No. 9003, or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act.