The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) will conduct an investigation into the dumping of garbage in front of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) office in Davao City, Malacañang announced on Tuesday, June 9, 2026.
Palace Press Officer Claire Castro stated that Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla assured Malacañang that the incident would be subjected to a thorough investigation.
“There will be a deep investigation into this,” Castro said during a Palace briefing.
When asked about possible penalties against Davao City Mayor Sebastian Duterte or other officials involved, Castro noted that the DILG would first determine whether there was negligence or violations of environmental laws.
“Secretary Jonvic mentioned that we can discuss and look into whether there was negligence and whether there were violations of environmental laws,” she added.
Castro said it is too early to discuss specific penalties while the investigation has not yet begun. She also revealed that the penalties would depend on the gravity of the offense proven.
“It depends on the gravity of the offense they committed,” she said.
Castro also reminded local officials that public service should take precedence over personal interests.
“To all leaders of LGUs, let us remember – you are for the people, not for yourselves,” she said.
On Monday, Malacañang condemned the dumping of garbage outside the DENR regional office in Davao City, describing it as a violation of environmental laws and an obstacle to efforts addressing public safety concerns following the trash slide tragedy at the city’s sanitary landfill last month.
The Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) had earlier criticized the dumping of garbage outside the DENR office in Davao City—a site designated by the city government as one of its temporary waste collection points after the landfill’s operations were suspended.
It will be recalled that the DENR ordered the temporary closure of the New Carmen Sanitary Landfill following the trash slide incident to pave the way for retrieval operations, geotechnical assessments, and the implementation of corrective safety measures.
According to the EMB, the dumping of garbage in front of the DENR office violated the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000 and posed potential health and environmental risks.
