1 dead, 2 remain missing in Rizal landfill collapse
LUCENA CITY, Philippines — One of the three individuals reported missing after a garbage mound collapsed at a sanitary landfill in Rodriguez, Rizal, has been recovered, Mayor Ronnie Evangelista said on Monday.
Speaking during the municipal government flag-raising ceremony, Evangelista said two others remain missing.
“We are doing our best efforts to find them,” the mayor said, noting that retrieval operations are difficult because clearing the massive pile of garbage is largely manual work.
The body of the recovered victim has been turned over to the family.
READ: DENR considering actions vs. Rizal landfill operator after trash slide
Evangelista dismissed earlier claims that at least 50 people were buried in the incident as “exaggerated” and “not true.”
The urban poor group Kalipunan ng Damayang Mahihirap (Kadamay), which first raised alarm over the collapse, had cited residents claiming that about 50 individuals — mostly scavengers — were engulfed by surging trash.
Evangelista’s statement contradicted a police report furnished to the Inquirer, which said there were no casualties and that the three missing individuals were backhoe operators who lost control of their equipment when the garbage pile suddenly gave way. The workers were treated and later sent home.
Privately owned
The mayor clarified that the sanitary landfill in Barangay San Isidro is privately owned and not operated by the municipal or provincial government.
Evangelista also urged the national government to adopt modern waste management technologies to replace open dumping.
“We can use an incinerator. The waste can be burned, and emissions can be filtered so they are not harmful to the environment,” he said, adding that laws may need to be amended to allow such technologies.
“Otherwise, our mountains will be consumed by the continuous dumping of garbage,” Evangelista warned.
Meanwhile, environmentalist Joey Papa, president of the Bangon Kalikasan Movement, called on the government to immediately halt dumping in watersheds, protected areas and residential communities.
“People’s lives have been wasted due to noncompliance to Republic Act [No.] 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000,” he said.
Past tragedies
Papa noted past tragedies, including the 2000 Payatas dumpsite landslide that killed about a thousand people and the recent Barangay Binaliw, Cebu City, trash slide that claimed at least 50 lives.
He also recalled that in April 2013, four workers died in the same Rodriguez landfill after being buried under tons of garbage loosened by heavy rains.
Papa urged stronger household- and community-level programs for waste reduction, segregation, composting, recycling and reuse.
“We create our waste. We should manage and turn this waste into a valuable resource,” he said.
Rizal Gov. Nina Ricci Ynares has requested the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to conduct a “thorough, prompt and transparent investigation” into the incident.
In a Feb. 20 letter to DENR Secretary Raphael Lotilla, Ynares asked the agency to determine the environmental and public safety implications, including reports of injuries, missing persons or possible loss of life.
Ynares noted that while the facility is named the “Rizal Provincial Sanitary Landfill,” it is privately managed by International Solid Waste Integrated Management Specialist Inc., which has yet to issue a statement.
According to the DENR’s Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) Calabarzon, it has conducted an on-site inspection and ordered immediate stabilization measures, including leveling and slope reinforcement.
The EMB also directed the operator to submit a detailed action plan with daily reports, regulate heavy equipment movement, restrict access to high-risk areas and ensure compliance with its environmental compliance certificate. A technical conference will be convened to determine any violations. /cb
