DAVAO CITY – The dispute over the closure of the New Carmen Sanitary Landfill here escalated on Thursday, June 5, after piles of garbage were dumped outside the Department of Environment and Natural Resources–11 office to stress its effects on garbage collection services across the city.

The mounting trash came amid growing tensions between the Davao City government and the DENR over the suspension of landfill operations following a trash slide about 3.72 hectares of the landfill on Monday evening, May 20, triggered by heavy rain from the intertropical convergence zone.

In a statement posted on his Facebook page on Thursday night, June 4, Mayor Sebastian Duterte said the DENR's directive under the leadership of Secretary Juan Miguel Cuna is worsening sanitation by keeping the landfill closed without providing a definite reopening timeline.

"The longer this situation continues, the greater the risk of a public health and sanitation problem, not because of the waste itself, but because of the bureaucratic inaptitude of DENR," Duterte said.

He said the city established additional waste collection points, including one directly in front of the DENR–11 office, to manage waste collection moving forward. He added that the agency can appreciate the volume of garbage that accumulates when an essential public service is halted indefinitely.

"The people living around the landfill have already been evacuated. The threat to human life has been addressed," Duterte said. "What remains are corrective measures that can be undertaken while allowing landfill operations to continue based on sound and practical judgment."

Duterte said the DENR opted to suspend the entire facility and the Davao City government remains compliant with regulatory requirements but urged authorities to consider the practical consequences of the closure.

Davao City generates an estimated 750 tons of waste daily. It serves nearly two million residents, which, according to Duterte, is guided not only by regulations but also by practical realities and common sense.

The New Carmen Sanitary Landfill is the city's primary waste disposal facility. Its closure has led to garbage accumulation in several parts of the city, raising concerns among local officials about potential health and sanitation risks.

In a statement posted in their Facebook page on Friday, June 5, the DENR-11 said they have been conducting daily coordination meetings and technical assessments with the City Environment and Natural Resources Office, the City Engineer's Office, and the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office to facilitate rehabilitation efforts.

According to the DENR, the collapse blocked access roads, damaged nearby houses, killed two and injured two, and left one individual still missing.

DENR-11 Regional Executive Director Maria Mercedes V. Dumagan assured that the agency and the city government remain aligned in ensuring that landfill operations are restored safely while protecting nearby communities.

To address the city's waste-disposal needs during the suspension, the DENR proposed several alternatives, including temporary disposal arrangements with neighboring local government units, such as Santa Cruz town and Panabo City, co-processing of residual waste with Holcim-Geocycle, expedited development of a new sanitary landfill, and the establishment of a temporary disposal area within the existing landfill, subject to stabilization measures.

In its motion for reconsideration, the Davao City government proposed the use of a temporary disposal area within the landfill while implementing DENR-prescribed engineering interventions. The city committed to completing the required works by June 9, pending agency verification.

DENR-Environmental Management Bureau-11 Regional Director Arnulfo M. Alvarez said the agency recognizes the urgency of restoring landfill operations but stressed that public safety remains the top priority.

Alvarez said local government personnel have participated in all technical assessments, including drone mapping, slope stability evaluations, leachate monitoring, and inspections of the proposed temporary disposal area.

Cuna said that decisions regarding the landfill should be guided by science and public safety. He added that the DENR would continue assisting the city until all safety requirements are met.

In a statement on Friday, Duterte said development of a new sanitary landfill adjacent to the existing facility has been underway since 2024 and is expected to become operational by June 16.

He said the project has secured an Environmental Compliance Certificate, with only the completion of its loading bay remaining.

The mayor maintained that the city's assessment indicates conditions at the current landfill may already allow operations to resume while remaining corrective measures are undertaken.

"Should our recommendation be given due weight, the need to consider the DENR office as a garbage collection point may no longer arise before the new facility becomes operational on June 16," Duterte said.

DENR-11 said retrieval operations for the remaining missing individual continue, while around 180 families have been evacuated from high-risk areas surrounding the landfill.

The agency said access to the facility remains restricted to authorized personnel and that the suspension order may be lifted once all required safety measures have been completed and verified.