Nearly half of the fire at the Navotas Sanitary Landfill in Navotas has been contained, with no definite timeline for when it will be fully extinguished.
(DPWH photo)
This was according to Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Secretary Vince Dizon, who returned to the site after two weeks.
"According to the estimates, halos mangalahati na tayo doon sa napapatay natin na area (According to estimates, we've put out almost half of the area)," he said.
While this can be considered significant progress, Dizon said that extinguishing the fire is difficult because it's not as simple as deploying the necessary equipment.
Dizon returned to the Navotas Sanitary Landfill together with Japanese Ambassador to the Philippines Kazuyo Endo, Environment Secretary Juan Miguel Cuna, Mayor John Rey Tiangco, and technical experts from the Japan Disaster Response team to assess the current state of the landfill and provide additional assistance from the agency to help speed up efforts to extinguish the fire that has been affecting air quality in nearby cities of Navotas.
He stated that the fire burned 90 percent of the 44-hectare area.
Dizon said there is still no timeline for when the fire will be put out, since it is a slow process.
"Di pa kami makakapagbigay ulit ng timeline, pati yung Japanese partners natin ayaw magbigay ng timeline kasi talagang slow process ito. Pero slowly but surely naman na papatayin na natin yung sunog (We still can’t provide a timeline, and even our Japanese partners don’t want to commit to one because this is really a slow process. But slowly and surely, we are putting out the fire)," he said.
According to DPWH, President Marcos has already ordered the government to take all necessary measures, including seeking recommendations from foreign experts, to resolve the worsening blaze and ensure public safety from toxic emissions from the landfill.