Davao landfill remains closed; Mayor Baste says trash may be dumped in front of DENR XI office
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 6 June 2026) – Mayor Sebastian “Baste” Duterte has said residents may put their trash in front of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) XI compound in Lanang as a collection point, saying the agency is to blame for the uncollected garbage in the city for suspending operations at the sanitary landfill in Barangay Carmen after a tragedy last month.
A trash-slide occurred at the landfill on May 20, killing two persons and leaving another one still being retrieved as of Friday.
“We have identified additional collection points, including one in front of the DENR XI office, so they can personally appreciate the volume of garbage that accumulates when an essential public service is halted indefinitely,” he said in a statement Thursday.
Collection will have to wait until operations at the sanitary landfill resume.
In a press release Friday, DENR XI said the suspension order issued on May 21 “will only be lifted once the required safety and engineering interventions are completed – measures intended to secure ongoing retrieval operations, and protect workers and nearby communities.”
Duterte claimed the city had already submitted the requirements.
“The longer this situation continues, the greater the risk of a public health and sanitation problem, not because of the waste itself, but because of the bureaucratic inaptitude of DENR,” Duterte said in the June 4 statement.
“The people living around the landfill have already been evacuated. The threat to human life has been addressed. What remains are corrective measures that can be undertaken while allowing landfill operations to continue based on sound and practical judgement.”
Duterte said the “DENR chose to suspend the entire operation without providing a clear timeline for reopening.”
The DENR issued a suspension order last May 21 “to secure ongoing search and retrieval operations, enable geotechnical assessments, and prevent further risks to nearby communities,” according to the agency’s press release.
“Since then, DENR technical teams have conducted daily inspections and coordination meetings with the City Environment and Natural Resources Office, City Engineer’s Office, and the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CDRRMO) to guide rehabilitation works,” the press release quoted DENR Davao Regional Director Atty. Ma. Mercedes V. Dumagan as saying.
MindaNews visited the site on June 5 and found a pile of smelly garbage placed along the gate of the environmental agency.
MindaNews was told a truck dropped the first piles of trash at 2 a.m., June 5.
“Accordingly, should our recommendation be given due weight, the need to consider your office as a garbage collection point may no longer arise prior to the new facility becoming operational on June 16, 2026,” Duterte said in another statement on Friday.
The DENR has since warned that they would file cases against individuals who would throw waste in front of their office.
The agency, citing Section 48 of Republic Act 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000, said through a post 7:07 p.m. Friday on its official Facebook Page, that it would pursue cases. “The vehicles and individuals involved have already been identified.”
Duterte said the development of the landfill has been underway since 2024.
“The Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) for the project has already been secured, and only the finalization of the loading bay remain pending, with completion expected by June 16, 2026,” he added.
The mayor said “observations and practical assessment indicate that conditions at the existing landfill have reached a point where operations may safely resume while the remaining corrective measures are being implemented.”
What these measures are have not been made public, even to the media, as of 7:50 p.m. Friday.
As of June 4, there was no apparent clear guidance from the City Environment and Natural Resources Office (Cenro), city government, and even the City Information Office about whether collections were halted.
MindaNews was prevented from entering the compound of the Cenro facility at the trash-slide area during a visit last May 24 for an inquiry.
Government vehicles could come in, but city officials apparently prevented media entry into the facility, with guards and Cenro staff saying they received no instructions to allow media access.
Dumagan, meanwhile, downplayed the tension among the agencies.
“The cooperation between the DENR regional offices, Environmental Management Bureau (DENR-EMB) Region XI, and the City Government of Davao has been consistent and constructive. Everyone is aligned on the same goal: to restore operations safely and protect the communities around the [landfill],” Dumagan said.
According to the official situational reports, the incident happened on May 20, 2026 around 1:10 PM, affecting an estimated 3.72 hectares of the landfill area.
The collapse blocked access roads, damaged nearby houses, and led to two fatalities, two injuries, and one individual still being retrieved, according to the DENR.
To help Davao City cope with the suspension, Dumagan said DENR has laid out several operational alternatives: temporary disposal coordination with neighboring local government units such as Sta. Cruz (Davao del Sur) and Panabo City (Davao del Norte); co-processing arrangements with Holcim-Geocycle for residual waste; and fast-tracking the use of a new sanitary landfill facility under development.
In its Motion for Reconsideration, the city proposed a temporary disposal area inside the landfill, subject to DENR-identified engineering interventions.
The city committed to completing these by June 9, pending DENR verification, stabilization, drainage controls, and other engineering interventions.
DENR-EMB XI Regional Director Alnulfo M. Alvarez said the agency recognizes the urgency of restoring landfill operations but emphasized that safety remains the foremost consideration.
“Our teams are on the ground every day with the LGU. We recognize the operational pressure the city is facing, but we cannot compromise public safety and environmental protection,” Alvarez stated.
He said LGU personnel have been present in all assessments, including drone mapping, slope stability checks, leachate monitoring, and the evaluation of the proposed temporary disposal area in the western portion of the landfill.
Retrieval operations for the remaining missing individual continue, supported by the City Engineer’s Office and CDRRMO.
Around 180 families have been evacuated from high-risk areas, but access to the landfill remains limited to authorized personnel.
“Once we confirm that all safety measures are in place, we can consider lifting the suspension order,” Alvarez said. (Yas Ocampo/MindaNews)
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