Cebu City Mayor Nestor Archival has defended the limited reopening of the Prime Integrated Waste Solutions (PWS) facility in Barangay Binaliw, asserting that the move could benefit the city as long as rehabilitation and regulatory conditions are followed.
In an interview with reporters on Wednesday, April 29, Archival said he saw no immediate concern in the partial lifting of the cease-and-desist order (CDO) issued by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) 7. He noted that activity at the facility appeared limited and possibly intended for testing purposes.
"I think this is really advantageous for us. Especially on our part, we're not dumping waste there. We don't really know what's going on inside. They might just be testing," Archival said.
Limited Reopening
During an April 28 executive session of the City Council, councilors said they were caught off guard by reports that PWS had resumed limited operations at the facility despite unresolved questions over the site and the lack of clear prior coordination with the council.
PWS manager Niño Abellana Jr. told the council that operations, which began on April 25, were allowed under a partial lifting tied to a specific interim cell covered by environmental clearance requirements.
DENR 7 waste management chief John Roy Kyamko clarified that the authorization applied only to the interim cell and not to the entire facility.
Archival said the reopening likely covers only a specific landfill cell that already has the required permits, including an environmental compliance certificate (ECC), and is separate from the portion affected by the fatal landslide.
"Partial opening in the sense that the cell they are using already has a permit and an ECC, and they are testing it, because it is separate from the area where the landslide occurred," he added.
Regulatory Conditions
Archival confirmed that the city received a letter from the DENR on the partial lifting last week, before the operations resumed, and acknowledged that the operations may proceed as long as regulatory requirements are followed.
"As long as it is within the bounds of requirements, I don't think there's a problem with that," he said.
He added that landfill operators, including PWS, will eventually be covered by a public bidding process once the city opens disposal contracts to qualified and compliant facilities.
Meanwhile, concerns have surfaced within the Cebu City Government after the Cebu City Environment and Natural Resources Office (Ccenro) disclosed that it was excluded from the investigation and monitoring of the landfill after the deadly incident.
Access Concerns
Ccenro head Editha Peros said her office, which is mandated to conduct environmental inspections, was not invited to join the composite team formed by the DENR and other agencies.
"As far as I can remember, we did not receive any invitation," Peros said.
She said Ccenro had been left out of key developments and repeatedly denied access to the facility, limiting its inspections to drone-based monitoring.
"Most of the time, we are not allowed to enter, we're only kept outside. That's why we can only use drones, but we really don't have access to the operations inside. Especially recently, they said they were undergoing rehabilitation, and for our safety, we were not allowed to go in," she said.
Peros said that even during the Jan. 8 incident, Ccenro personnel were not allowed to enter unless accompanied by the City Administrator.
Councilor Joel Garganera echoed the concern, citing discussions during a Feb. 8 meeting at the Office of the Mayor, where some government agencies also acknowledged limited access to the site.
Oversight Questioned
Garganera described Ccenro's exclusion as alarming, especially given the scale of the tragedy, which authorities have treated as a potential crime scene.
"It is very alarming that even the city's environmental office is being prevented from fully participating in the investigation and monitoring of the facility," he said.
Peros also said Ccenro had no prior knowledge of the partial lifting of the CDO, which reportedly allowed the facility to resume limited operations as early as April 25 and accept waste from private companies.
"We had no communication at all with PWS, and we also did not receive any documents for coordination purposes," she said.
Under the arrangement, operations are reportedly confined to a designated interim cell, subject to conditions set by the DENR's Environmental Management Bureau 7, and not to the entire landfill.
Despite this, councilors raised concerns over the lack of coordination with the Cebu City Government, particularly as investigations into the Jan. 8 disaster continue.
Peros has appealed for access, urging PWS to allow Ccenro personnel to enter the facility and carry out their monitoring functions.
"We are just requesting PrimeWaste that if possible, we be informed of their activities as well, and that we be allowed to enter their facility when we conduct our monitoring," she said.
The issue has intensified scrutiny over environmental oversight and transparency as the landfill resumes limited operations while questions surrounding the Jan. 8 tragedy remain unresolved.
