Metro Manila, Philippines – Authorities are searching for three waste pickers reportedly missing after a portion of the sanitary landfill in Rodriguez, Rizal collapsed on Friday, Feb. 20, according to the Office of the Civil Defense (OCD).
OCD deputy spokesperson Diego Mariano said they received the report from the regional office on Sunday, two days after the incident.
“The cause is not a trashslide rather ‘pagbuka ng gabundok na basura’ [the mountain of garbage spread open] as MDRRMO Rodriguez described,” Mariano said.
He has yet to provide more details on the incident, which happened late Friday afternoon.
Urban poor group Kadamay claimed around 50 people were feared to be buried alive, to which Mariano said was “not accurate nor factual.”
The Rizal Provincial Sanitary Landfill, located in Barangay San Isidro in Rodriguez town, is under Green Leap Solid Waste Management, Inc. and operated by private firm International Solid Waste Integrated Management Specialist, Inc. (ISWIMS).
NewsWatch Plus has reached out to contact information available on the latter’s social media pages.
Aside from the Rodriguez town, the Category 4 landfill receives residual waste from 25 areas across Metro Manila, Cavite, and Bulacan, according to data from the National Solid Waste Management Commission.
The Rizal province has two more privately-operated landfills in Morong and San Mateo towns, and another under the control of Antipolo City.
The Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) in Calabarzon has ordered immediate stabilization operations in the Rodriguez landfill, such as leveling and sloping of the eroded area, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) said on Sunday.
The bureau deployed its personnel on Saturday to conduct an on-site investigation to assess the extent of the erosion and to verify reports of missing individuals.
The DENR-EMB directed Green Leap Solid Waste Management to provide a detailed action plan, conduct waste compaction and daily soil covering, control heavy equipment movement, restrict access to high-risk zones, and implement slope stabilization and regular site inspections.
“A Technical Conference will be conducted by EMB Calabarzon with the operator of the sanitary landfill to discuss the details of the incident, status of ECC (environmental compliance certificate) Compliances, and will issue the corresponding Notice of Violation for identified non-compliance with their ECC conditions based on the results of the investigation,” the DENR said.
In 2013, a deadly trash slide incident also took place in the landfill, claiming four lives. The ISWIMS was also the operator at the time.
In January, a large section of the Binaliw landfill in Cebu City collapsed, killing 36 people who were buried in the avalanche of garbage and debris.
Following the tragedy, Environment Secretary Raphael Lotilla ordered the immediate inspection of all operational sanitary landfills in the country.
