By Lane Afable, News Editor
Senator Risa Hontiveros renewed her call for a comprehensive review of the country’s solid waste management framework, RA 9003 and its amendments, following the ongoing landfill fire in Navotas that has affected nearby communities and raised serious environmental and public health concerns.
“For days, residents in the CAMANAVA area, some other areas in NCR, and even as far as Bataan have been exposed to unhealthy air quality that was never supposed to pose this kind of danger. This incident is deeply alarming,” Hontiveros said.
Last February, Hontiveros filed Proposed Senate Resolution No. 285 which calls for an investigation into the systemic failures of the national solid waste management framework following the collapse of the Binaliw landfill in Cebu City.
“Ito mismo ang nais nating maiwasan nang ihain natin ang PSN 285. Hindi na dapat nauulit ang ganitong mga insidente. Ang tunay na trahedya ay kung wala tayong gagawin para ayusin ang malinaw na lapses sa ating solid waste management system,” she said.
Hontiveros said the Navotas landfill fire is not an isolated incident and reflects recurring failures in regulation and waste management, citing past landfill disasters in Cebu City and Rodriguez, Rizal as a result of continued reliance on landfills.
“Our laws are clear. Landfills are meant to be the last resort and not the default solution. But gaps in the implementation of waste reduction, segregation, and recycling at the local level continue to push large volumes of waste into landfills,” she said.
Hontiveros also flagged oversight gaps, citing Sec. 16.1 of Department of Environment and Natural Resources Administrative Order No. 2017-15, which limited Multipartite Monitoring Teams (MMT) to Environmentally Critical Projects. The classification of landfills below a certain capacity to Non-ECPs or Category B projects ensured that many in the country escaped regular monitoring and oversight.
“Kung mahina ang monitoring, may nakakalusot talaga na paglabag sa environmental standards. Dapat tiyakin ng DENR na ang mga obligasyon sa ilalim ng ECC, kabilang ang tamang pagsasara at rehabilitasyon ng mga landfill, ay mahigpit na naipatutupad,” she said.
Hontiveros reiterated her call to prioritize the inquiry under PSN No. 285 to ensure accountability, strengthen enforcement, and prevent similar incidents from happening in the future.
“Hindi na ito simpleng usapin ng waste management.
“Nakasalalay dito ang kalusugan ng mamamayan, ang kalikasan, at ang kaligtasan ng ating mga komunidad. Kailangan na natin ng agarang aksyon bago pa muling maulit ang trahedya sa ibang lugar,” she said.
