Davao City Faces Health Crisis as DENR Closes Landfill: Mayor Duterte Responds

Davao City Mayor Sebastian Z. Duterte

Davao City Faces Health Crisis as DENR Closes Landfill: Mayor Duterte Responds

By Bing Jabadan – TheNATIONWEEK.com | June 5, 2026

MANILA, Philippines – Davao City is on the brink of a public health and sanitation crisis following the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) order to close the New Carmen Sanitary Landfill. The directive, issued under Secretary Juan Miguel Cuna, has halted the city’s waste management, drawing sharp condemnation from Davao City Mayor Sebastian Z. Duterte.

Mayor Duterte criticized Secretary Cuna’s decision, calling it a display of “bureaucratic inaptitude” that ignores practical realities. He emphasized that the immediate threat to human life posed by the landfill had already been mitigated through the evacuation of nearby residents.

“What remains are corrective measures that can be undertaken while allowing landfill operations to continue based on sound judgment,” Mayor Duterte stated. Instead, he noted, “DENR chose to suspend the entire operation without providing a clear timeline for reopening.”

The indefinite closure has crippled the city’s ability to manage approximately 750 tons of daily waste, leading to significant delays in collection. In a pointed move, the city has designated additional collection points, including one directly in front of the DENR XI office. This strategic placement aims to allow DENR officials to “personally appreciate the volume of garbage that accumulates when an essential public service is halted indefinitely.”

Mayor Duterte affirmed Davao City’s commitment to complying with all regulatory requirements. However, he stressed the critical need for DENR decisions impacting nearly two million Dabawenyos to be guided not solely by regulations but also by “practical realities.”

The escalating waste situation underscores a growing tension between local governance striving to maintain essential public services and a national environmental agency implementing what Mayor Duterte views as an overly rigid enforcement strategy. The lack of a clear reopening timeline from DENR exacerbates the crisis, leaving Davao City grappling with a mounting waste problem and an uncertain path forward.

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