Last of two parts
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 23 June 2026) — Fast forward to 2025, the actual average disposal in the city’s Sanitary landfill in Barangay New Carmen, Tugbok District, reached 753 tons, almost double the 385.49 ton average when it was opened in December 2010.
Located about 15 km from the city center, the landfill opened in December 2010 on a 10.29-hectare plot that cost ₱300 million to build.
By 2025, it had accumulated over 9.6 million cubic meters of waste, with an average of 753 tons being disposed there every day (averaging 153 trucks of waste daily).
The landfill was running out of space, hence, the need for a new, larger landfill right next to the existing one in the same barangay.
The new facility covers 6.5 hectares and has a total project cost of ₱559 million with components including liners, leachate collection and treatment system; gas vents; ground water monitoring well system; soil cover; access roads; perimeter fence; hazardous waste containment facility; and other facilities.
The construction began in October 2024 and the Environmental Compliance Certificate was granted by the DENR Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) XI on April 24, 2025 through regional director Enp Alnulfo M. Alvarez.
24-hour waste collection
Waste collection in the city is usually 24-hours at 8-hour shifts: 4 a.m. to 12 noon; 12 noon to 8 p.m. and 8 p.m. to 4 a.m. for the main roads and highways.
Despite the 24-hour operation and the installed collection points, improper waste disposal continues to be the top concern of the city, Engr. Lakandiwa Orcullo, chief of the Ecological Solid Waste Management Division of the Davao City Environment and Natural Resources Office, said. He cited littering, scattering, throwing and dumping of waste matters along roads, sidewalks, canals, esteros, gutters, manholes and parks.
“Improper waste disposal continues to be the concern, even if we have collection points in areas in Poblacion, Talomo, Buhangin, Agdao and downtown areas, where we post a 100% collection,” he stressed.
The result, visible in any flood season, are mounds of garbage accumulating near drainage inlets, and informal dumping persists along creek banks and low-lying areas.
Trash-slide, Suspension, Closure
A fatal trash-slide in the sanitary landfill on May 20, however, plunged the city into its worst garbage crisis, disrupting the 24-hour waste collection operations for several weeks, with mounds of garbage left uncollected along the city’s streets.
The trash-slide, which happened two days after the flood, killed two waste-pickers, injured two, and left one still missing.
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) regional office immediately issued an order suspending disposal in the landfill the next day, May 21, citing multiple violations of Republic Act No. 9003 (Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000) and DENR Administrative Order No. 10, specifically paragraphs 1,3, and 11 of Section 5.2 and Section 2, Rule XIV, Operations of Sanitary Landfills, IRR of Republic Act No. 9003.
The city government was granted a temporary window to resume disposal operations in a portion of the existing landfill until June 16.
DENR XI regional director Atty. Mercedes Dumagan and EMB XI regional director Alvarez signed on June 17 the order on the permanent closure and stoppage of all dumping operations at what is now the old landfill.
As of June 18, 2026, an interim cell at the new sanitary landfill has been receiving waste.
Meanwhile, the city government has been directed to submit a draft Safe Closure and Rehabilitation Plan of the old sanitary landfill within 30 days following its closure.
Unaccounted
While the 2017 solid waste generation per day was 991 tons, the actual average disposal in the sanitary landfill averaged only 575 tons. Orcullo said the waste accumulated in the landfill is significantly lower compared to the waste generated, as other wastes are diverted to junk shops, or end up in rivers and the oceans.
“What’s difficult to account is how many have gone to the seas, or disposed of through open dumping,” Orcullo said.
By law, only residual waste should end up in sanitary landfills, but the problem is not every barangay has an operating Materials Recovery Facility (MRF). Hence, recyclables and biodegradables end up in the landfill or in creeks and canals.
For Orcullo, a successful waste management is when the household segregates, and if there is a specific day for collection of recyclables, biodegradables; specific trucks to collect residuals, and special waste; and a specific facility to receive these items.
“For a perfect segregation, all of these components should be present. The segregation at the source is useless, if the collection is mixed waste,” he stressed.
Orcullo said it is the responsibility of the barangay to set up their own MRF with biodegradable, and recyclable according to a city ordinance.
The law vs implementation on the ground
In 2010, Davao City passed Ordinance No. 0361-10, or the Davao City Ecological Solid Waste Management Ordinance, mandating the segregation, collection, and proper disposal of solid waste across all 182 barangays.
The ordinance requires every barangay to operate an MRF which should include a solid waste transfer station or sorting station, drop-off center, a composting facility where waste is sorted, recyclables are recovered, and residual waste is properly contained before disposal.
While Article VII of the ordinance mandates segregation of solid waste at source, the barangay shall assume “primary responsibility” in managing the biodegradable and recyclable waste from the sources, consistent with the provisions of Republic Act 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000.
More than 15 years later, only 53 or 29.1% of 182 barangays have fully functioning MRFs, while there are 115 MRS accounted. It has to be noted that other barangays have both MRF and more than one MRS.
Orcullo declined to release the list of the non-compliant barangays, claiming their compliance is already followed up by the office. “There’s a gap between what the ordinance requires and what barangays can actually deliver, ” he said. Lack of space, budget and other priorities are genuine constraints, he added.
Orcullo said that some MRFs are just for compliance, but do not follow the components of an MRF as required by the city ordinance.
He noted that other barangays have both MRF and MRS. Barangays that do not have recycling centers are encouraged to link to buy-back centers or the junk shops.
153 out of 182 barangays
He acknowledged that enforcement of the ecological waste ordinance has been uneven, as barangay officials have been urged to implement provisions on segregation and proper collection, but formal sanctions for non-compliance have been rarely applied.
By law, every barangay must establish a solid waste committee to oversee segregation, composting and community education drives.
Records as of May 15, 2026 showed that CENRO collected waste in only 153 out of 182 barangays in the city, leaving the 15% inaccessible. These 15% are in far-flung areas of the city.
Orcullo said part of the 10-Year Solid Waste Management Plan (2018-2027) is to achieve collection in all of the 182 barangays. He said the plan will be updated in 2027 and will refer to the 2024 WACS.
Pending this, about 45 barangays initiated mobilizing their own trucks to augment hauling and transport collected waste of the barangay to the landfill.
Treating the symptom, not the disease
Paul Bermejo, chief of the Ancillary Services Unit (ASU) recalled that since the operationalization of ASU in 2018, plastic waste and PET bottles have always been part of the waste extracted from drainages, with or without flooding.
ASU is a division under the City Mayor’s Office created on February 15, 2017 through Executive Order No. 05 to maintain the cleanliness of the drainage networks of the city and implement programs on flood risk reduction and management.
Bermejo said while there is no data as to the distribution of earth and plastic waste extracted from drainages, along with sludge, sand, gravel, and drift woods, plastic waste and PET bottles are found clogging the drainage during clean-up.
“During our cleanup, we get a lot of PET bottles, but our personnel are instructed to collect those bottles so we can sell it to the recyclers through the cooperative run by our personnel,” he said.
Bermejo estimates that plastic waste takes up about 25% of the total waste extracted during clean ups after the flooding.
The 25% consists of plastic waste from household use such as sachets of shampoo, empty containers of toothpaste, plastic bottles, that clogs the drainage and causes it to overflow.
Engr. Franz Japheth Caballero, ASU drainage team leader said in some cases, extracting waste from the drainage takes days as they have to go back to make sure the clog is cleared from plastic waste and earth silt.
“During Day 1, what we extract is the plastic waste first and then later on it is mixed with silt. After all the waste has been extracted, it’s all silt,” Caballero said. “In downtown areas, the majority of what we extract is garbage,” he added, citing the areas in Panacan, Tibungco, and Bunawan.
ASU currently has two dump trucks (one operating, the other for repair), HINO for transport; backhoe loader; and the newest addition- Vactor, a vacuum jetting truck.
Volume of waste
As of June 2026, Caballero said three teams are deployed in the morning along with a separate vacuum and jetting team and another two teams for afternoon to evening, and a strike team from the CENRO managed by ASU for the evening operations.
In December 2025, the city purchased the jetting truck- high-pressure water vehicle designed to flush blockages from drainage canals. From the conventional manual operation, the Vactor streamlined ASU’s drainage cleaning.
| 2025(Total volume of waste extracted in m3) | 2026(Total volume of waste extracted in m3) | |
| January | 639.0 | 714.0 |
| February | 620.0 | 664.0 |
| March | 624.0 | 653.0 |
| April | 478.0 | 450.0 |
Table: Comparative data of volume of waste extracted y on y (before and after the procurement of vactor)
But ASU acts upon requests and complaints.
Bermejo recognized that clearing waste after it has already entered the drainage system is more of a reactive measure than a preventive one.
The process is: CEO provides to ASU the priority areas for declogging, especially the heavily-flooded areas during rain. The strike team responds to drainages to remove the waste in inlets to accommodate floodwaters.
The ASU reported that the total volume of waste extracted shows a consistent upward trend from 2018 to 2025, increasing from 3,045 cu.m. in 2018 to 7,668 cu.m. in 2025.
The highest recorded waste extraction was in 2025 after a flooding and the procurement of the vacuum jetting truck, indicating intensified clearing and declogging operations.
A lawmaker argued that the city government has passed legislative measures to mitigate hazards,including flooding.
Councilor Alberto Ungab, chair of the City Council’s Committee on Disaster, Risk Reduction and Management said the CDRA, which determines the areas that are most at risk to recorded hazards in the city, including flooding, is a data-driven insight to enhance strategies, incorporated into the city’s disaster risk reduction and management plan, and forms part of the city’s land use program.
He said the City Council also approved in October 2025 a Multi-Hazard Early Warning System (MHEWS) handbook which serves as an all-encompassing tool for government agencies, barangay government units, to facilitate establishment of risk-reduction measures before a hazard strikes.
The four essential components of the handbook are: risk knowledge; detection, monitoring and forecasting; warning, dissemination and communication; and preparedness and response.
Ungab, however, said that stricter waste management plays a role to address city’s flooding, but insisted flooding is an accumulation of factors such, noting a need for more effective drainage system of the city as one.
“We really need a master plan of the whole drainage system of the city,” he said.
Master plan
It can be noted the Philippine government requested assistance from the Japanese Government to develop the Master Plan and Feasibility Study on Flood Control and Drainage in Davao City, in 2018. It was completed in 2023.
The Plan is a comprehensive flood-management blueprint prepared by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to address recurring flooding in Davao City.
The project was conducted as Davao City experienced increasing flooding incidents due to rapid urbanization, encroachment on waterways and inadequarte drainage capacity and the changing rainfall patterns.
The master plan and feasibility study project commenced in November 2018 under the Duterte presidency and the final report was completed in July 2023 under the Marcos administration. It covered Davao River Basin, Matina River Basin and Talomo River Basin, including Davao City urbanized area.
The Plan’s proposed priority flood control measures included river dredging to increase river capacity; cutting off channels to divert excess floodwaters away from densely populated areas; and establishment of retarding ponds (detention basins) to temporarily store floodwaters during heavy rainfall.
Ungab said the Master Plan is yet to be implemented since it was completed in 2023, because of funding constraints. He said the counterpart of the national government in funding this foreign-assisted project was taken out from the General Appropriations Act (GAA).
GIS
Janis Louise Esparcia, OIC of the CEO, said in her August 26, 2025 report to the City Council that the CEO has an ongoing Drainage Inventory Project which the mayor has directed them to enhance through the integration of Geographic Information System mapping of the city to better identify flood-prone areas.
According to the report of the City Information Office in 2024 this comprehensive inventory has been underway since 2024. The CIO was asked by this reporter on June 9 for an update on this inventory but it has not sent a reply.
Esparcia said creation of localized brigades at the barangay level to assist in cleaning drainage inlets, upgraded and expanded drainage system, construction of retention and detention ponds, flood control structures, and stricter enforcement of the Solid Waste Management System are the ways forward.
Before the rains
For environmental group Interfacing Development Interventions for Sustainability, what the garbage-laden floodwaters reveal is more than an eyesore, but a persistent gap in the city’s waste management system.
The waste clogs drainage systems and waterways, restricts natural water flow, and worsens flooding during heavy rains.
The group stressed that household segregation alone cannot solve the problem without a reliable, accountable collection system to match.
“Effective waste management cannot rely solely on individual action,” the group emphasized, “it requires a system that enables and reinforces responsible practices.”
The group warned that when waste is mixed during collection, opportunities for recycling and recovery are lost and the burden on landfills and waterways increases.
It added that the local government already has the ordinance, but must strengthen waste collection systems, invest in materials recovery systems, ensure compliance with segregation requirements at all levels, and sustain public education campaigns.
“The recurring presence of floating garbage during flooding is not only a consequence of improper disposal but reflects broader systemic challenges that demand coordinated action from communities, waste service providers, and government institutions,” the group stressed.
The rains, as always in Davao City, are coming, and flooding comes next.
For Temple, the analysis is simpler. Residents, especially those in flood-prone areas, need to understand that flooding is not inevitable, but a systemic failure in waste governance.
“Before the rains come,” he said, “someone needs to clean this up properly. Not just clear the canal for a week and then forget about it, but properly, and from the beginning.” (Nova Mae Francas / Mindanao Times, for MindaNews)
(This story was produced with the support of Earth Journalism Network.)
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