More than 10 people died and more than 20 are missing following a collapse at Cebu City's main landfill. The authorities blamed the disaster to heavy rains, but locals had been reporting irregularities and environmental violations for years. For Cardinal Pablo Virgilio David, this is not simple misfortune, but rather the result of poor education, training, and awareness about waste disposal.

Cebu (AsiaNews) – More than 10 people died last week following a landslide at the Prime Waste Solution Landfill, one of Cebu City's largest landfills, which is located in Sitio Kainsikan, Binaliw barangay.[*]

While search operations for more than 20 people missing are still ongoing, some advocacy and local community groups are saying that the tragedy was not the result of heavy rains, as claimed by the government, but rather the consequence of nearly a decade of mismanagement of the site.

The landfill, where all the solid waste generated in Cebu City is dumped, has been at the centre of controversy and complaints for years.

Even before the collapse, when about a hundred workers were present, several complaints had been filed against the site and its operators for alleged illegal mining activities and violations of environmental regulations, which have had serious repercussions on the surrounding waters and air quality.

The Bishop of Kalookan, Cardinal Pablo Virgilio David, also spoke about the matter. “Let’s call a spade a spade. Most so-called ‘sanitary landfills’ in the Philippines are dumpsites in disguise,” he wrote in a post on Facebook.

“Under RA 9003, only residual waste – after segregation, composting, and recycling – should go to landfills. In reality, everything is mixed together: biodegradable, recyclable, toxic, industrial, even medical waste,” he explained.

“This is climate injustice. This is a public health crisis. But here is the biggest missing link in the implementation of the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act: Education, formation, and consciousness-raising,” Bishop David added. “The tragedy that happened in Cebu is not an isolated incident,” he lamented.

As Philippine online news website Rappler noted, the story began in 2017, when the Inayawan landfill, operational since 1998, was closed for a long-overdue renovation, given that it was only supposed to operate for seven years.

Lacking structured alternatives, the city began to rely on private landfills, which often failed to meet safety standards. An initial solution, in the town of Consolacion, proved disastrous. In 2019, a landslide at another private landfill killed a lorry driver transporting garbage, leading to the site's closure due to serious environmental violations.

It was then that Cebu City, along with other neighbouring municipalities, began disposing of waste at the Binaliw landfill, then managed by ARN Central Waste Management.

From the beginning, the project was contested by residents and some city councillors, who complained about excavation work done without permits even before the Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) was issued.

Other experts pointed out that the area was in a sensitive mountainous region within the Butuanon watershed, on which numerous communities depend.

Despite an initial rejection by the local city council in 2017, the project was approved the following year, securing a public contract for waste collection and disposal.

The protests, however, continued. In 2019, over 600 residents called for the plant's closure, complaining of unbearable odours, leachate invading homes during rains, and public health risks.

That same year, the regional environmental agency found violations related to waste transportation and failure to comply with the conditions set out in the ECC.

In January 2023, the landfill was taken over by Prime Integrated Waste Solutions (PWS), a company linked to the group of Philippine entrepreneur Enrique Razon Jr., who had promised to turn the plant into a “world-class” facility.

The new operator announced the introduction of advanced technologies and an automated waste sorting system. Subsequent inspections, however, revealed a different picture.

In August 2024, the authorities found that waste was being disposed of without treatment, like in open-air landfills, and therefore in violation of the country’s law on environmental waste management.

This was followed by more complaints about odours, fly infestations, groundwater contamination, and problems with drainage systems.

A report by the Commission on Audit (COA) published the same year also highlighted serious shortcomings in stormwater[†] management, highlighting poor sanitary conditions and the risk of leaks at the treatment plant.

The municipality also found that unauthorised earthworks had been built despite a ban on mining activities in mountain barangays in effect since 2022.

According to Cebu City's 10-year waste management plan, the Binaliw landfill is expected to reach maximum capacity soon.

However, the failure to rehabilitate the old Inayawan landfill and the lack of fully operational treatment facilities have left the city almost entirely dependent on a single site.

Before the landslide, the facility received approximately a thousand tonnes of waste per day, with piles as high as a ten-storey building.

“It was already too heavy and too tall,” a local news media quoted a municipal councillor as saying. “If natural slopes of soil and rock can collapse, more so a mountain of garbage.”

After days of heavy rain, the underlying ground collapsed, causing the disaster. PWS announced the suspension of operations, while the authorities in Cebu, Mandaue, and Lapu-Lapu are now looking for alternative waste disposal solutions.

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[*] The smallest administrative unit in the Philippines, equivalent of ward or borough.

[†] Water that is not absorbed by the ground.

• philippines
• cebu city
• waste management
• landfills
• environmental disaster
• fatalities