CEBU (LiCAS): The Church People–Workers Solidarity (CWS), in the Philippines condemned the deadly collapse of the massive Binaliw Landfill garbage mound in Cebu City as a crime against workers, while authorities said hopes of finding survivors were fading days after the disaster.
About 50 sanitation workers were buried when the mountain of garbage gave way at the site, which handles refuse for Cebu City’s nearly one million residents.
In a statement, Bishop Gerardo Alminaza of San Carlos, chairperson of CWS, said the collapse of the landfill was being wrongly portrayed as an accident when it was “in truth, a crime born of greed, neglect, and the systematic violation of workers’ rights.”
The privately operated landfill collapsed on January 8, burying sanitation workers under tons of trash that toppled from an estimated height of 20 storeys.
Authorities said the recovery of a body on January 11 brought the confirmed death toll to seven, with at least 29 workers still missing as the critical 72-hour window since the landslide ended.
The garbage is like a sponge, it really absorbs water. It doesn’t [take] a rocket scientist to say that eventually, the incident will happen
Joel Garganera
Fire officer, Wendell Villanueva, said that efforts had been repeatedly interrupted by the risk of further collapse from the still-shifting mountain of refuse—a danger worsened by rain.
Cebu City council member, Joel Garganera, described the height of the garbage pile as “alarming,” adding that the danger should have been obvious.
“Every now and then, when it rains, there are landslides happening around the city,” he said, adding that “a landfill or a mountain that is made of garbage” posed particular risks.
“The garbage is like a sponge, it really absorbs water. It doesn’t [take] a rocket scientist to say that eventually, the incident will happen,” Garganera said, calling the collapse a “double whammy” for the city because the facility was the lone service provider for Cebu and nearby communities.
As we celebrate the 500 years of Christianity in the Philippines. The Chaplaincy to Filipino Migrants organises an on-line talk every Tuesday at 9.00pm. You can join us at:
https://www.Facebook.com/CFM-Gifted-to-give-101039001847033
Police images showed a massive mound of trash towering behind buildings that officials said housed administrative offices and worker accommodations.
…human dignity is gravely violated and work is reduced to exploitation.
Church People–Workers Solidarity
Cebu mayor, Nestor Archival, told media that a recent earthquake and typhoon-driven rains may have contributed to the collapse.
According to the website of operator Prime Integrated Waste Solutions, the landfill processes about 1,000 tons of municipal solid waste daily.
In its statement, CWS said the workers who died were “compelled to work under dangerous and inhumane conditions—conditions that should never have been allowed and that ultimately cost them their lives.”
The group said, “As Church, we affirm that work is sacred because the worker is sacred,” warning that when safety is sacrificed for profit and negligence results in death, “human dignity is gravely violated and work is reduced to exploitation.”
CWS demanded an “immediate, thorough, and transparent investigation” into the collapse and called for the operator to be investigated for possible violations of occupational safety and health laws. “We refuse to allow this tragedy to be reduced to a statistic or buried under official excuses,” the statement said.
