RESCUERS load a survivor into an ambulance as search and rescue operations continue at the landslide-hit landfill in Barangay Binaliw, Cebu City.(Photo from Councilor Joel Garganera)
CEBU CITY – Two persons were confirmed dead and 12 were rescued from the collapsed dumpsite in Barangay Binaliw here.
As of 5 p.m., Jan. 9, 35 individuals remained missing, according to the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP)-Cebu City.
With several persons still missing, Mayor Nestor Archival has ordered an intensified search and rescue operation.
The landslide at the Prime Waste Solutions Cebu-operated landfill occured past 4 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 8.
A total of 109 BFP personnel, 19 ambulances, and 242 local government rescuers and volunteers are conducting a round-the-clock search and rescue operation.
A command post has been activated in the area.
Councilor Dave Tumulak, chairman of the Cebu City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (CCDRRMC), said the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and other partner agencies have activated the Management of the Dead and Missing (MDM) protocol at the site.
Tumulak said one of the facilities was a 25-year-old engineer.
The city government is in close coordination with the Department of Social Welfare and Development and other agencies for the immediate release of necessary assistance to the victims’ relatives.
Because of the landslide, the city has temporarily stopped collecting garbage.
Councilor Joel Garganera, chairman of the City Council Committee on Environment, said dumping of garbage at the landfill had to be halted to give way to search and rescue efforts.
The stability of the Binaliw landfill must also be assessed, Garganera said.
"We have to acknowledge the assessment of the landfill. It already gave way, it slid, and it’s common sense that we cannot add more waste on top of that,” Garganera said.
Several municipalities have been advised to cease disposing waste at the dumpsite.
Garganera said alternative solutions are being looked into while the Binaliw landfill still can’t be used.