By ROBERT B. ROQUE JR.
The only reason last Friday’s massive trash-mound collapse at the Rizal Provincial Sanitary Landfill (RPSL) in Rodriguez town feels like a no-big-deal story is simple: No one has been reported killed. At least, not yet. And hopefully, none.
It was close to 4 p.m. on February 20, when a massive pile of garbage in Sitio 1B, Barangay San Isidro, inside the landfill operated by International Solid Waste Integrated Management Specialist Inc., suddenly gave way while bulldozer operators were leveling waste. One machine slid down a ravine of trash.
Three heavy equipment operators were briefly trapped and then rescued by their coworkers. They bore bodily injuries but were treated and later sent home. Early fears of dozens buried — or even 50 missing — remain unverified. Police were informed only two days later. The provincial government has requested that the DENR conduct an investigation.
That is not reassuring. It is chilling.
Because the Philippines has seen this horror before. In 2000, the Payatas dumpsite collapse killed more than 200 people, burying entire shanties under a mountain of garbage. The tragedy forced closures, inquiries, and promises of “never again.” Landfills were to be regulated, waste systems modernized, and communities protected.
And yet here we are — still piling trash high enough to slide, still trusting gravity and luck.
This Rodriguez incident is not minor; it is a recipe for disaster. One heavier rain, one deeper shift, one crowded slope — and we could be counting bodies by the dozens.
Yes, the government must invest in state-of-the-art waste solutions, not just dump-and-cover sites. Manila’s push under Mayor Isko Moreno to tighten garbage rules and even charge for collection reflects the scale of the crisis. But policy alone cannot outpace public indiscipline.
Waste segregation and recycling must start at home — and spread outward. Various NGOs and barangay materials recovery initiatives have long shown that it can work. Their models should be replicated nationwide.
But household effort alone will not solve a national-scale garbage crisis. The burden ultimately falls on the state. The national government must stop relying on landfills that merely bury risk beneath layers of dirt and denial.
The Marcos administration has begun fixing public works, and while that remains to be effectively seen, it must also make serious, sustained investments in modern, state-of-the-art waste disposal systems. And when it does, they should be built for sustainability, recovery, and recycling — not facilities designed simply to hide the filth we produce.
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