Garganera seeks justice for 36 dead in trash slide

CEBU, Philippines — Justice for the 36 lives lost in the January 8 trash slide at the Binaliw Landfill is what Cebu City Councilor Joel Garganera is now demanding, warning that the city cannot move forward with expansion plans while accountability remains unresolved.

Garganera, who chairs the council’s committee on environment, delivered a privilege speech before the council yesterday, pressing for decisive regulatory action, transparency in the investigation, and restitution for the families of the victims.

“We cannot build over unanswered deaths. We cannot normalize tragedy in the name of convenience,” he declared.

The councilor recounted how, less than 24 hours after the incident in Binaliw last January, discussions had already shifted to the expansion of the landfill despite ongoing search and retrieval operations.

He compared this to how public safety demands immediate suspension in other fatal incidents, stressing that accountability must precede any resumption of operations.

“If lives were lost under their watch, then regulatory action must be clear, decisive, and publicly explained,” he said.

Garganera also raised alarm over ongoing developments in the South Road Properties (SRP) area, which he said resemble “not a transfer station but an open dump site.”

He questioned whether these projects meet sanitary landfill standards under environmental laws and asked where the Department of Environment and Natural Resources is in all of this.

He noted that leadership changes at the national and regional levels, including replacements at the Environmental Management Bureau and the DENR, cannot erase the failures that led to the Binaliw tragedy.

“Replacing officials does not equal accountability,” he warned.

He drew parallels to the Payatas dumpsite landslide in 2000, where hundreds perished and families waited nearly two decades for justice.

He cautioned that Cebu City must not repeat that history of delay. He also cited recent fatal trash slides in Rizal Province, stressing that landfill safety is a national concern requiring stricter enforcement.

In motions supported by the rest of the City Council members, he called on the National Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources–Environmental Management Bureau to submit a comprehensive final report on the Binaliw incident, including findings on liability and compliance failures.

He urged that no expansion or reopening of the three-hectare area be considered until accountability is established, and insisted that PrimeWaste Solutions present its closure and rehabilitation plan to the council.

Garganera emphasized that any future use of the site must be offered to the city free of charge as part of restitution, and that Cebu’s waste management system must meet lawful, transparent, and humane standards.

“Our city deserves better than an open dump site,” he said, reiterating that Cebu cannot move on while justice remains unfinished. — (FREEMAN)