The petition was addressed to Viviene Ruste, the village chief of Binaliw, who earlier said she was willing to host the WTE facility provided certain conditions were met, including road widening and other infrastructure improvements.
But residents say Binaliw has already suffered enough from waste-related disasters.
The community’s appeal
“The lives lost on Jan. 8 must never be forgotten. Let that tragedy serve as a turning point—not toward more hazardous waste facilities, but toward responsible, humane, and sustainable environmental governance. We urge you to stand with your constituents and choose health, safety, and environmental protection over risky and false solutions,” the petition read.
Daisy Ybañez, former barangay councilor who was among those who initiated the petition, said they had gathered more than 300 signatures – about 10 percent of the village voting population of 3,000.
She said copies of the petition would be sent to Cebu City Mayor Nestor Archival, Cebu City Council, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB).
Ybañez said they would vehemently oppose any move to put up a WTE facility in the village because it would mean that the landfill would stay in Binaliw for generations to come.
From beauty to blight
Binaliw, a mountain village located about 17 kilometers from the city proper, used to be beautiful, with sweeping views and fresh mountain air, Ybañez said.
Now, she added, residents have to keep their doors and windows shut to block the foul odor from the landfill and keep flies out.
Their children, she said, can no longer play on the streets for fear of being struck by passing dump trucks.
“We would really oppose the WTE. Aside from the pollution, its establishment would mean that the landfill would be here forever. Our grandchildren and great grandchildren would suffer forever,” said Ybañez.
Thirty-six workers were killed when the mid-section of the landfill operated by Prime Waste Solution collapsed late afternoon of Jan. 8.
The DENR immediately ordered the closure of the landfill pending investigation, leaving the cities of Cebu, Lapu-Lapu, and Mandaue scrambling to find where to dispose of their garbage.
While temporary dumpsites had been identified and waste segregation at source was strictly implemented, officials started looking at WTE as a solution to address the garbage problem.
Garbage problem
During a news conference on Feb. 10, Mayor Archival of Cebu City said provincial and city officials would meet on Feb. 20 to start the discussion on putting up a WTE to address the garbage problem.
They are looking at a single WTE facility for the entire Cebu since, Archival explained, investors would want to make sure there would be a steady flow of garbage to make it work.
But Binaliw residents say they do not want the facility in their village.
In their petition, they said they oppose another high-risk waste facility following the Jan. 8 tragedy, which they described as a “painful and unresolved wound” for the community.
The residents also warned that waste-to-energy incineration facilities are known to emit toxic pollutants, including dioxins, furans, and fine particulate matter, posing long-term risks to air and soil quality in surrounding ecosystems.
Non-incineration alternatives
They said they learned lessons from the proposed P5-billion waste-to-energy project in Barangay Guba, another mountain village in Cebu City, which was rejected by residents over concerns about threats to crops and toxic emissions that could harm upland ecosystems.
“Any major project of this nature requires genuine, informed, and transparent community consent, not conditional openness without broad public agreement,” the petition read.
Instead of WTE, it added, there should be a full and strict implementation of Republic Act 9003 or Ecological Waste Management Act, which promotes zero-waste, non-incineration alternatives that protect lives, livelihoods, and the environment. —Ed: Corrie S. Narisma
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