DENR orders review of all landfills

Following the tragic trash slide in Barangay Binaliw, Cebu City last January 8, that killed and buried many and destroyed some houses, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources has ordered a thorough review of all operating landfills in the country to prevent similar disasters.

DENR Secretary Raphael Lotilla, in a press release, said the move is part of a broader five-pronged strategy to establish accountability, determine the technical causes, prevent the recurrence of the incident, and formulate a long-term, programmatic approach to addressing garbage challenges in the country.

“We are taking immediate and decisive action to ensure an impartial and scientific inquiry into the Binaliw incident,” Lotilla said, adding that the “people deserve transparency and that DENR commits to deliver results that will ensure accountability and prevent future tragedies.”

Lotilla formed a special multi stakeholder investigative team of external solid waste management experts from non-government organizations (NGOs) and the academe.

The team will work with the DENR Legal Affairs and Enforcement team Central Office. “We are bringing in independent eyes to look at the data,” Lotilla said.

He explained that involving experts from the academe and civil society would ensure credible findings that are also rooted in the best available science.

“We need to establish the accountabilities, and equally, if not more important, the lessons learned from this experience and how long-term measures should be framed to prevent a similar incident in the future,” Lotilla noted.

Lotilla also brought in new leadership in DENR R7 (Central Visayas) by appointing Audie Salac and John Edward Ang as Regional Executive Director and Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) Director, respectively, to ensure an impartial probe, reported the Inquirer.

The Binaliw incident may indicate broader systemic risks, prompting Lotilla to order an immediate nationwide inspection of all operating sanitary landfills.

Emphasizing that the safety of communities is non-negotiable, he tasked all DENR regional offices nationwide to ensure strict compliance with environmental compliance certificates (ECCs) and safety protocols. He said this directive aims to identify potential hazards early and enforce corrective measures before accidents occur.

“We are now moving to ensure that facilities across the nation adhere to the highest standards of safety and environmental protection,” Lotilla said.

The DENR has strengthened public monitoring and national assessment, as part of its reform package, including amending public participation policies under the Philippine Environmental Impact Statement System to require Multi-Sectoral Monitoring Teams (MMTs) for all waste management projects, including sanitary landfills. The MMTs will include stakeholders and technical experts to monitor compliance with ECC conditions. 

The DENR will conduct a comprehensive assessment of solid waste management implementation nationwide to identify policy gaps and improve sustainability, to be undertaken by a multi-stakeholder team that the agency will form.

“A wide-ranging and far-reaching evaluation of how we implemented solid waste management is key so we can identify policy gaps and necessary support, design better systems, and improve sustainability,” Lotilla said.