Mayor revises trash collection schedule

CEBU, Philippines — Cebu City Mayor Nestor Archival has reset the timetable for the city’s garbage collection scheme, moving the start of private hauler pick ups in the barangays from July 25 to July 31, giving them several more days to continue delivering their waste to the South Road Properties (SRP) before the prohibition fully takes effect.

Archival, in a press conference yesterday, explained the adjustment was necessary to complete documentation.

“Ang nahitabo, nag move tag gamay because naay certain documentations. So ang atong schedule is July 31,” Archival said.

The Department of Public Services, contractors, drivers, and barangay captains have already met to finalize the transition, designating exchange points in both north and south districts, where mixed garbage will be dropped off nightly at 11 p.m. and hauled away by 3 a.m.

Barangays that are already practicing segregation, 10 so far, will continue to deliver directly to the city’s eco station.

The rest of the barangays will either handle collection individually or be clustered depending on their location to streamline coordination with the private hauler.

Archival added that infrastructure options at SRP remain under study, including a ramp system where smaller trucks unload into larger ones without touching the ground, and an enclosed, cemented transfer station with walls, with a cost and feasibility study expected to be completed within 45 days.

The shift away from SRP follows months of controversy.

As early as January 15, 2026, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) rejected Cebu City’s request to use SRP as a transfer station, citing risks of leachate contamination, lack of environmental clearances, and violations of Republic Act 9003.

On June 7, the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB)-7 issued a cease and desist order requiring the city to stop using SRP immediately.

Yet by early July, The FREEMAN found that barangay trucks were still unloading garbage at the site despite the order.

Last week, Archival convened barangay captains to discuss a new collection scheme.

Cebu City generates 600–700 tons of garbage daily, a burden worsened by the collapse of the Binaliw landfill in January, which killed 36 workers and forced the city to haul waste to Aloguinsan at P6,000 per ton—P4.2 million a day.

Archival’s July 31 directive is meant to comply with DENR orders. — (FREEMAN)