A national environmental agency has rejected claims that President Marcos influenced the shutdown of a Davao City landfill, insisting the move was based purely on technical and safety considerations.
The Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) issued the clarification while also condemning the dumping of garbage outside the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) office in the city. The waste appeared there after Mayor Sebastian Duterte named the location among several collection points for the city’s trash.
According to the EMB, an agency under the DENR, the dumping breached environmental regulations and diverted attention from ongoing work to keep the public safe at the Davao City Sanitary Landfill.
“Dumping trash in front of government offices is not only unlawful. It undermines the very principles of ecological solid waste management,” said EMB Director Michael Drake Matias. “Our focus must remain on protecting lives, rehabilitating the landfill and ensuring compliance with environmental standards.”
Officials pointed to the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000 as the relevant statute, which bars both littering and unauthorized dumping. Penalties under the measure range from monetary fines to community service and jail time.
The friction traces back to May 20, when a trash slide at the facility entombed 15 homes and left two people dead. The DENR halted landfill operations the following day, a step the agency described as a technical one intended to safeguard retrieval crews, allow geotechnical evaluations, and shield workers and surrounding residents from further danger.
Duterte reacted with frustration to the closure, warning that shutting the site down created health hazards for the community.
Matias indicated that operations at the landfill may resume as early as next week, on condition that every required safety correction is met and independently confirmed.
