Eran pushes urgent safety audit of Binaliw landfill

CEBU, Philippines — Cebu City Councilor Harry Eran is urging the city government to immediately assess the structural integrity and environmental condition of the Binaliw Sanitary Landfill after a Senate inquiry identified the facility as among the country's most hazardous landfill sites.

Eran has filed a proposed resolution calling for urgent structural, geotechnical, fire, and environmental assessments of the landfill, while urging the city to strictly comply with Republic Act 9003, or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000. The resolution is set to be tackled in tomorrow’s council session.

The measure comes in the wake of the Senate investigation into the January 8, 2026 trash slide that killed 36 workers and a volunteer rescuer. During the hearings, lawmakers pointed to years of ignored audit findings and poor waste management practices as factors that led to the tragedy.

Beyond safety assessments, Eran's proposal also calls on the city government to intensify waste segregation at source, strengthen diversion and waste reduction programs, and prepare a comprehensive closure and rehabilitation plan in accordance with Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) regulations.

"The City government is urged to review, update, and implement a comprehensivr Closure and Rehabilitation Plan or other necessary remedial plan for the landfill, in accordance with DENR DAO 2006-09 and all other applicable environmental rules," part of the proposed resolution reads.

Eran said the city must act decisively to protect lives and uphold the constitutional right of every Filipino to a balanced and healthful ecology.

The Binaliw landfill has come under intense national scrutiny following Senate hearings led by Senators Risa Hontiveros and Raffy Tulfo, who questioned DENR officials over their failure to act on repeated warnings, including findings contained in the Commission on Audit's 2023 performance audit.

Hontiveros argued that Typhoon Tino and the heavy rains merely triggered a disaster that had long been foreseeable because of the landfill's poor design and the continued disposal of unsegregated waste.

She also questioned the decision to construct a Material Recovery Facility (MRF) inside the landfill compound, saying it could have compromised slope stability.

Tulfo, meanwhile, pressed officials of the DENR and the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) over the continued failure of local government units to establish functional MRFs as required under Republic Act 9003.

Environment Secretary Juan Miguel Cuna confirmed during the hearing that five landfill sites nationwide—including Binaliw—are at imminent risk of fire or collapse and require urgent preventive measures. While the deadly trash slide has already occurred in Binaliw, authorities continue to monitor the site for possible slope failures and landfill fires.

Developed around 2018 following the closure of the Inayawan dumpsite, the Binaliw Sanitary Landfill has been hounded by environmental issues almost from the beginning.

Residents have repeatedly complained of foul odors, wastewater leaks, and alleged violations of environmental laws.

In 2023, Prime Integrated Waste Solutions, a subsidiary of Prime Infra, took over the landfill's operations from ARN with a commitment to modernize the facility.

However, inspections conducted in 2024 again cited violations of Republic Act 9003, with portions of the landfill reportedly resembling an open dumpsite.

The January 8, 2026 collapse buried a material recovery facility and claimed dozens of lives, prompting the ongoing Senate investigation.

Months after the tragedy, DENR-7 partially lifted its cease-and-desist order on the landfill, allowing limited operations under strict conditions.

Regional environment officials said the move was intended to balance environmental protection with Cebu City's urgent need for a disposal facility while ensuring that rehabilitation, slope stabilization, and compliance with environmental regulations continue.

Mayor Nestor Archival Jr., who declared a state of solid waste management emergency in May, earlier told senators that transporting Cebu City's garbage to Aloguinsan costs about ?4.2 million daily, or nearly ?1 billion a year, making the arrangement financially unsustainable.

He earlier said reopening Binaliw could be "advantageous" once all violations have been corrected but stressed that the landfill should only resume operations after its safety has been fully validated.

The mayor also appealed for greater national support for composting and recycling facilities, warning that without adequate waste diversion systems, segregation laws would remain ineffective and landfills would continue to receive mixed waste.

The Binaliw issue also comes as the city government prepares to discontinue the use of its garbage transfer station at the South Road Properties (SRP) after DENR-7 issued a cease-and-desist order for alleged violations of Republic Act 9003, the Clean Water Act, and the Clean Air Act.

The order followed The Freeman’s publication of a drone footage showing garbage trucks unloading mixed waste at the SRP site despite earlier denials by city officials.

Last week, the city government announced that private haulers would begin collecting garbage directly from barangays and transport it straight to the Aloguinsan landfill, effectively eliminating the SRP transfer station, although no specific implementation date has been announced. (CEBU NEWS)