Metro Manila, Philippines – Environment Secretary Raphael Lotilla has ordered the immediate inspection of all operational sanitary landfills in the country following the Jan. 8 landfill collapse in Cebu City that killed 36 people.
In a statement on Monday, Jan. 26, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) said regional offices were directed to ensure strict compliance with environmental compliance certificates (ECC) and safety protocols.
The DENR said Lotilla wants to identify potential hazards of landfills early and enforce corrective measures before accidents happen, as the safety of communities is “non-negotiable.”
“We are now moving to ensure that facilities across the nation adhere to the highest standards of safety and environmental protection,” Lotilla said.
In 2025, the DENR said more than 370 sanitary landfills were operating in the Philippines.
A sanitary landfill is an engineered facility for waste disposal, typically the final disposal site of non-recyclable or non-compostable garbage called “residual waste.”
Aside from the nationwide inspection, Lotilla ordered a comprehensive assessment of the implementation of solid waste management in the country.
He also instructed the DENR to issue an administrative order requiring all waste management projects to form multi-sectoral monitoring teams, to include stakeholders and technical experts tasked to observe compliance with the facilities’ ECC conditions.
Independent probe on Binaliw landfill collapse
Lotilla also formed an independent team to investigate the deadly Binaliw landfill landslide last Jan. 8 in Cebu City to complement the agency’s probe.
The special multi-stakeholder investigative body will consist of external solid waste management experts from non-government organizations and the academe.
“By involving experts from academia and civil society, we are ensuring that our findings are not only credible but also rooted in the best available science,” the DENR chief said.
“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,” he said.
Lotilla earlier changed the leadership in the DENR Central Visayas office, appointing Audie Salac as the executive director and John Edward Ang as the local Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) director.
“The installation of fresh leadership is intended to remove any potential for partiality and ensure that the investigation proceeds without obstruction,” the secretary explained.
He said a dedicated coordinator for solid waste management will be selected to strengthen EMB’s solid waste monitoring and enforcement.
In July 2000, hundreds were killed when the Payatas dumpsite in Quezon City collapsed. This prompted the enactment of Republic Act 9003 or the “Ecological Solid Waste Management Act” in January 2001.
