DENR slams Baste Duterte order to dump trash

The Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) condemned the dumping of garbage in front of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Region XI (Davao) office, calling it unlawful and a distraction from efforts to ensure public safety after a trash slide at the Davao City Sanitary Landfill.

EMB Director Michael Drake Matias said the act violated Republic Act No. 9003, or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000, which prohibits littering and illegal dumping.

READ: DENR warns against garbage dumping outside its Davao office

“Dumping trash in front of government offices is not only unlawful, it undermines the very principles of ecological solid waste management. Our focus must remain on protecting lives, rehabilitating the landfill, and ensuring compliance with environmental standards,” Matias said.

Davao City Mayor Sebastian “Baste” Duterte, who blamed the DENR for the city’s worsening garbage problem, ordered the dumping of garbage in front of the DENR office to underscore the severity of the situation and allow agency personnel to see firsthand the impact of the landfill shutdown.

“To manage waste collection moving forward, we have identified additional collection points, including one in front of the DENR XI office, so they can personally appreciate the volume of garbage that accumulates when an essential public service is halted indefinitely,” Duterte said.

The EMB suspended the operations of the landfill on May 21, a day after the trash slide left two people dead, two injured and one person still being retrieved.

Technical decision 

According to the bureau, the order was a technical decision meant to secure retrieval operations, allow geotechnical assessments and protect workers and nearby communities.

The DENR-Davao Region said it has been working closely with the city government to address concerns involving the city’s solid waste management system, particularly issues related to the safety and stability of the landfill facility.

The EMB also rejected claims linking President Marcos to the landfill suspension, saying such allegations were false and misleading and stressing that the decision was based solely on technical and safety considerations.

Corrective measures are underway, including slope stabilization, drainage controls and stricter safety protocols, the bureau said.

The EMB also presented the local government unit with options to manage waste, including coordination with neighboring LGUs, coprocessing arrangements with Holcim-Geocycle, fast-tracking the use of a new sanitary landfill and setting up a temporary disposal area within the current site, subject to engineering interventions.

Matias said the landfill could reopen as early as next week if all safety-related corrective actions are fully complied with and verified. INQ