Cebu City has declared a ‘state of calamity’ at the Binaliw Landfill as more bodies are being recovered from the massive mound of trash with the official death toll placed at 13 as of Tuesday afternoon, local authorities said.
The Cebu City Fire Station reported that a 47-year-old woman was among the latest fatalities, her body was retrieved from the debris at around 1 p.m. The gender of the other cadaver has yet to be determined.
Rescue operations continued for 23 others who remained missing, Cebu City Fire Station spokesperson SFO3 Wendell Villanueva said.
The Cebu City council has approved a resolution to place the Binaliw Landfill under a state of calamity.
“It resulted in the loss of lives, injuries, missing persons, and serious threats to public safety, public health, and the environment,” Councilor Joel Garganera, Chairman of the Committee on Environment, said of the disaster.
The declaration of a state of calamity is anchored on Republic Act No. 10121, or the Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act of 2010, which allows local governments to access disaster funds, fast-track emergency procurement, and implement urgent response, rehabilitation, and recovery measures in the event of natural or human-induced hazards.
In the resolution, the council cited the “grave and tragic incident” at the Binaliw landfill, which resulted in deaths, injuries, missing persons, and serious threats to public safety, health, and the environment.
The resolution also called for P30 million to be released under the quick response fund for the garbage disposal services of the city.
The city has yet to find a new garbage disposal site following the closure of the Binaliw Landfill, a privately operated facility that handles refuse for the city of nearly one million.
Aside from Cebu City, Mandaue City also sends its garbage to the facility.
About 50 sanitation workers were buried on Thursday when the mountain of garbage fell on them from an estimated height of 20 storeys.
Last weekend, a rescue official said emergency workers had faced the danger of further collapse by the still-shifting mountain of trash, forcing pauses in their efforts.
The city government of Cebu is hoping against hope as signs of life have reportedly been detected under the rubble.
Cebu City Mayor Nestor Archival said the province is still in search and rescue mode, five days after the landfill collapsed on Jan. 8.
“Yesterday, there was this Apex mining. Mayroon silang equipment na nagpakita mayroon pang signs of life, so kaya nga although 72 hours nang nag-lapse (They have equipment that showed there were still signs of life, even though the 72-hour window had lapsed),” he said in a media interview.
Archival said rescue operations are being done carefully and in stages, under extremely hazardous conditions, as rescuers are wary of another possible landslide.
The collapsed structure, a sorting area or the materials recovery facility (MRF), is made of steel and is interconnected, raising concerns that moving one section could further trap victims underneath, he added.
Archival acknowledged appeals from families to expedite operations, but explained that safety concerns have slowed the pace.
He added bigger equipment just arrived days ago, limiting initial efforts to smaller equipment to reduce the risk of further collapse.
A formal investigation into the cause of the incident has yet to start, but Archival said initial assessments point to the recent natural events, such as the earthquake in September and Typhoon Tino in November, that may have contributed to ground movement and soil saturation.
He said that while weather conditions were fair on the day of the collapse, officials believe recent calamities may have weakened the site’s foundation.
