The EcoWaste Coalition has called on national and local governments to urgently inspect the integrity of landfills across the country, enforce compliance with environmental laws, and impose penalties on violations to prevent further disasters following the garbage slide at the Davao City Sanitary Landfill.
A mass wasting incident occurred in Barangay New Carmen, Tugbok, Davao City last week that left one dead, two injured, and two others missing.
In a statement, the group urged authorities to move beyond reactive measures and ensure strict implementation of waste management standards in all disposal facilities.
“We urge the authorities to assess the compliance of all landfills to mandatory regulations on waste segregation and acceptance, daily soil cover, containment engineering, slope stabilization, leachate, water quality, and gas monitoring, emergency preparedness, occupational safety and health, and other requirements, ensuring that all violations are identified, penalized, and fixed,” the group said.
“We cannot just wait for the next landfill collapse, fire, leachate overflow, and gas explosion to claim more lives and aggravate social injustice and environmental pollution,” the group added.
The coalition said the recent incident underscores long-standing weaknesses in the country’s waste management system and highlights the need for a shift toward waste reduction and prevention.
The Interfacing Development Interventions for Sustainability (IDIS), an EcoWaste Coalition member, said the tragedy reflects the growing burden of waste generation and the lack of sustainable systems.
“The tragedy reflects the challenges of increasing volume of waste generated and disposed of in our landfills everyday,” the group stated.
IDIS emphasized the importance of a strong integrated waste management system that prioritizes waste reductions, segregation at source, recycling, composting, and responsible disposal to prevent similar incidents from happening again.”
Ecowaste stated that while RA 9003, or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act, mandates waste avoidance, segregation at source, and other best practices, national and local implementation is weak.
The group further noted that gaps in Republic Act 11898 allow continued reliance on single-use plastics and excessive packaging.
The group also pointed to similar landfill-related disasters in Cebu City, Montalban (Rizal), Navotas City, and Davao City as evidence of systemic failures in waste management policies.
EcoWaste Coalition reiterated its call for strict enforcement of Republic Act 9003, stronger action against plastic pollution, and increased investment in waste reduction systems, including segregation, composting, and recycling, while ensuring safe and sustainable livelihoods for waste workers.
