NGOs, academe tapped to join Cebu landfill probe

THE Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has tapped environmental groups and academic experts to join a composite team investigating the collapse of a landfill in Binaliw, Cebu City, as the government seeks to ensure a transparent probe.

In a statement on Thursday, DENR said Secretary Raphael PM. Lotilla issued Special Order No. 2026-32, creating the investigation team composed of the agency’s technical officials and representatives from non-government organizations (NGOs) and academic institutions.

The move comes amid a broader review of the country’s solid waste facilities, following the Jan. 8 collapse of a landfill in Binaliw, Cebu City, which crushed a materials recovery facility and killed 36 workers at the site.

Third-party members of the composite team include Aileen Lucero, the national coordinator of EcoWaste Coalition, a network of NGOs, academic institutions, and other civil society groups. Also joining the probe is University of San Carlos College of Engineering Chair Janice B. Jamora.

“By involving experts from academia like the University of San Carlos and civil society leaders from EcoWaste Coalition, we are ensuring that our findings are not only credible but also rooted in the best available science,” Mr. Lotilla was quoted as saying in the statement.

According to the DENR, the team will conduct an engineering and environmental appraisal of the 17-hectare landfill, assess compliance with environmental permits and sanitary landfill standards, and formulate a rehabilitation plan.

The team will also evaluate alternative waste disposal sites and recommend long-term measures to strengthen solid waste management for monitoring and enforcement. — Vonn Andrei E. Villamiel