“Unparliamentary”: Tomas loses cool over waste plan

CEBU, Philippines — Cebu City Vice Mayor Tomas Osmeña lost his temper and interrupted Councilor Joel Garganera during a privilege speech on the city’s solid waste management plan at the City Council’s regular session on Tuesday, October 13.

Garganera described the vice mayor’s action as “unparliamentary”.

Garganera’s detailed critique of the city’s waste management failures prompted Osmeña to toss a sheet of paper onto the rostrum and interrupt the councilor. Osmeña was also heard uttering expletives while Garganera was speaking.

In his speech, Garganera contrasted Cebu City’s continued reliance on landfills and costly garbage-hauling operations with Hanoi, Vietnam’s investment in waste-to-energy technology, citing the Soc Son Waste-to-Energy Plant inaugurated in 2025.

The facility processes 5,000 tons of garbage daily, generates 90 megawatts of electricity and aims to reduce landfill use to below 10% by 2030.

Garganera recalled visiting the facility, noting how rice fields thrived beside it, which he cited as proof that waste-to-energy operations and agriculture could coexist.

By contrast, Cebu City spends nearly ?1 billion annually on garbage hauling, while waste segregation remains limited despite the passage of Republic Act No. 9003, or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act, more than two decades ago.

Garganera also reminded his colleagues of the Binaliw landfill collapse that killed 36 workers and a rescuer. He lamented the city’s missed opportunity in 2022 when a ?5-billion waste-to-energy joint venture was withdrawn.

“Without targets and timelines, we do not have a plan. We only have trucks, and hauling bills to pay,” he warned.

The exchange grew heated when Garganera recalled that Osmeña had asked for 30 to 60 days in May to prepare a waste management plan, but more than four months had passed without one being presented to the council.

A statement from Osmeña, flashed on the screen during the session, read: “Vice Mayor Osmeña: Mr. Chairman, I am asking for 60 days, I will come up with the solution. I’m working on something today. But just keep in mind that if they were going to continue to Aloguinsan, it’s going to cost us 700 million pesos a year, and we can’t afford that. Just give me 60 days”.

Osmeña insisted that he had already completed a ?250-million proposal dated January 29, contrasting it with a newer ?470-million plan that he claimed was padded.

However, he did not present the proposal’s details before the council, leaving members uncertain about its actual scope.

Garganera pressed him: “Did you submit it to us?”

Temporary Presiding Officer Philip Zafra called Osmeña to order, but the confrontation escalated until Garganera’s microphone was cut off.

The incident prompted a lengthy recess. When the session resumed, Osmeña was given the floor to explain his position.

“You know what disturbs me, I did this work. It was finished. It was dated January 29, and that’s ?250 million. Now, there’s another proposal coming from this council, from the same source, it’s now ?470 million. Something is wrong. The addition of one small piece of equipment has increased its cost. I smell an anomaly and reputation of this council is at stake. I will defend the ?250 million. It’s up to the mayor to implement. I’m not the implementor, I am just assisting the mayor,” Osmeña said.

He explained that the ?250-million proposal covered equipment but excluded other required infrastructure, which was still being processed. He pointed out that the ?470-million proposal also did not include those components.

“You can compare that something is awfully wrong. The important thing is I kept my word. I said 60 days, I went before 60 days I submitted it. It’s up to the mayor to implement it. This is not implemented by the city council. It is the city government that implements it. The job of the council is to simply approve it. All I’m saying at ?250 million, not ?470 million,” Osmeña added.

Garganera and Osmeña have long been at odds over waste management.

In 2016, Garganera filed a writ of kalikasan case against Osmeña, who was mayor then, to stop the reopening of the Inayawan landfill. The Supreme Court later ordered the facility closed due to environmental and health risks.

Despite the heated exchange, Garganera extended his hand to the vice mayor before the session adjourned, saying it was “a sign of respect in spite of what transpired”.

Garganera later told reporters that “it is unparliamentary to interrupt a member delivering a privilege speech. Every member has his time to speak, and must first be recognized by the President officer.”

He also stressed that he had never asked Osmeña to prepare a waste management plan, saying “it was he who asked for 60 days to prepare one”.

Garganera added that if Osmeña had indeed submitted a proposal in January, “session was the right venue to clarify it through proper procedure and not through interruption.”

The clash came a day after Mayor Nestor Archival convened the Cebu City Sustainable Waste Management Summit 2026, which gathered barangay officials, environmental experts and partner institutions to discuss waste segregation, recycling and long-term solutions.

Archival emphasized cooperation across sectors, urging stakeholders to pursue practical, community-based approaches.(CEBU NEWS)