The Department of Environment and Natural Resources-Davao (DENR-11) has inspected the sanitary landfill in Barangay New Carmen, Davao City on Wednesday, June 10, 2026, to ensure all requirements have been complied with before the landfill can resume operations.
DENR-11 personnel visited the landfill to check the compliance of the City Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO) with the necessary measures before deciding to reopen the landfill.
The landfill was closed after DENR-11 ordered its suspension following the trash slide on May 20, 2026, which killed two people.
“Currently kasi ang height ng waste is around 40 meters that is equivalent to 10 to 14-storey building dapat i-downgrade pa ang height to correct including the slope those are the mitigating measure to stabilize ang slope,” Ecological Solid Waste Management Section Chief, Jay Christopher Bawi-in, Said.
“We acknowledge naman na there are actions coming from LGU ang action nila in compliance sa kanilang commitment yun yung ating i-ensure kung na-implement ba siya kung ang safety is okay na why not to open it,” Environmental Monitoring and Enforcement Division Officer-in-Charge, Engr. Liza Mae Villora, said.
The local government proposed to make the unloading zone of the landfill a temporary disposal area.
“They have this part stabilized road may mga aggregates at geotexttile just to stabilize the road para safety ang trucks the trucks will unload the waste there tapos itutulak lang ng bulldozer trucks are not allowed na pupunta pa sa hindi pa stable na area,” Bawi-in said.
Authorities also inspected the area following the magnitude 7.8 earthquake on Monday, June 8. However, there was no indication of a trash slide or ground movement in the area.
“No major mga movement sa trash even after the aftershock kasi yong pinakamalakas the first the shake yon ang ating caution and now wala naman everyday meron naman tayong assessment no movement because of the earthquake,” Villora said.
They also visited the new landfill being constructed beside the current one, which is expected to be completed by June 16.
“Currently kino-concrete siya then yong liner ng sanitary landfill is ongoing after those components it will be operational by June 16,” Bawi-in added.
Malacañang earlier said that the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) would conduct an investigation into the dumping of garbage outside the office of DENR-11.
The trash dumping came after Mayor Sebastian Duterte ordered the area to be used as an additional collection point, supposedly to make DENR aware of the situation after waste collection and disposal was disrupted due to the closure of the landfill.
DENR-11 has maintained that all necessary requirements must first be complied with to ensure that the landfill is safe before it can be reopened.
According to Palace Press Officer Claire Castro, authorities will determine whether the incident violated any environmental laws.
Castro added that Duterte will be among those included in the investigation.
The local government has yet to comment, as of this writing.
“Sa lahat na po ng mga lider sa LGUs, tandaan po natin, kayo po ay para sa taumbayan, hindi pansarili. Hindi po dapat katamaran o pangsarili ang iniisip. Isipin niyo po ang inyong constituents. Sa lahat po ng mag-aakto ng binabalewala ang kanilang constituents o ang kanilang trabaho, dapat po sila maimbestigahan,” Castro said.
