The new “pay as you discharge” scheme being implemented by the government of Rodriguez town in Rizal province had a stinky aftermath: Dozens of garbage trucks unable to dispose of their cargo.As many as 160 out of 1,000 garbage trucks from Metro Manila remained full after Rodriguez Mayor Pedro Cuerpo enforced the payment policy for dumping trash in his town’s 14-hectare sanitary landfill, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority said.

As of Tuesday, the MMDA was still trying to find room for the garbage trucks that were barred from discharging their contents at the dump for failing to pay on the spot P1,000 in hosting fees.

It also remained unclear how the preventive suspension of Rodriguez Mayor Pedro Cuerpo would affect garbage collection in the metropolis in the long run, MMDA Chair Bayani Fernando said.

He said the agency was still trying to check whether the town would stop or continue enforcing its policy that required garbage truck drivers to pay hosting fees upon entering the landfill.

Cuerpo was ordered suspended for 60 days beginning the other day by the Rizal provincial board for a municipal ordinance that charged users of the landfill a “development exaction fee.”

According to the board, the municipal government was not authorized to draft the ordinance.

Cuerpo, however, still reported for work Tuesday. “I still have to be served legal notice of my suspension. But even if such a notice is sent, I will continue to report for work,” he said.

He added that the suspension order issued against him was “baseless and bereft of any legal basis.”

“It is pure, unadulterated vendetta and sheer, blatant abuse of power and authority by the Rizal governor and members of the provincial board,” Cuerpo said.

The Rizal provincial government is locked in a legal battle with Cuerpo over which local government unit is entitled to the tipping, hosting and other fees being charged for the use of the landfill.

Last Monday, the start of the implementation of the new payment scheme, garbage haulers were rerouted to alternative dumping grounds in San Pedro, Laguna; Clark, Pampanga; Navotas City, and Payatas.

The MMDA earlier said it did not expect the new policy to affect garbage collection and disposal in Metro Manila.

It added, however, that there would be a delay in collection during what it called the “adjustment period” although MMDA General Manager Robert Nacianceno did not say how long this would be.