‘Ugaling basura’: Palace slams Baste Duterte for ordering trash dumped at DENR Davao

MANILA, Philippines – Malacañang and the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) slammed Davao City Mayor Sebastian Duterte’s order to dump trash in front of the DENR’s regional office following the suspension order against the New Carmen Sanitary Landfill.

“Ang tahasang pagpapakita ng kawalan ng galang sa batas, proseso, at rule of law ang siyang dapat na ituring na ugaling basura,” Palace Press Officer Undersecretary Claire Castro said in a news briefing on Monday, June 8. (The utter show of disrespect for the law, process, and rule of law should be the one considered as vulgar behavior.)

“Ito ang dapat na itapon ng mga abusadong lider na imbes na sumunod sa proseso para sa kapakapan ng komunidad ay maninisi pa sa mahigpit na pagpapatupad ng mga panuntunan. Tandaan: Ang proseso ay pinapatupad para sa kaligtasan ng nakakarami,” she added.

(This is what abusive leaders should get rid off. Instead of following the process for the sake of the community, they blame the strict implementation of rules.)

Castro made the statement as she shared the EMB’s strong opposition to the mayor’s directive.

A trash slide in the sanitary landfill in Barangay New Carmen, Davao City, prompted the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to suspend its operations on May 21. This will only be lifted “once all required safety and engineering interventions are completed,” said the DENR.

The EMB, which implements the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act, said in a statement on June 6 that Duterte’s order violates the law which prohibits littering and illegal dumping under the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000.

According to reports, at least two died from the trash slide.

Duterte issed the order in response to the mounting trash that accumulates daily while the landfill remains closed. According to Duterte, the city generates 750 tons of waste every day.

In a strongly-worded statement on June 4, Duterte said, “The longer this situation continues, the greater the risk for a public health and sanitation problem, not because of the waste itself, but because of the bureaucratic inaptitude of the DENR.”

Duterte then said they identified additional waste collection points, including the DENR’s regional office “so they can personally appreciate the volume of garbage that accumulates when an essential public service is halted indefinitely.”

According to the environment department, other options presented to the local government include temporary disposal coordination with neighboring towns, arrangements with Holcim Geocycle for residual waste, a potential temporary disposal area inside the suspended landfill.

A new sanitary landfill is underway, to start operations by June 16, 2026, according to Duterte. – Rappler.com