Former Bayan Muna Representative Ferdinand Gaite on Monday condemned a deadly landfill collapse in Rizal province, calling the disaster a “preventable” consequence of government negligence and corporate greed.

The Friday afternoon collapse at the Rizal Provincial Sanitary Landfill in Barangay San Isidro left at least three people dead according to reports. While official counts are still being consolidated, the urban poor group Kadamay reported that as many as 50 people remain missing.

The facility is operated by the private firm International Solid Waste Integrated Management Specialist Inc. (ISWIMS) in Sitio Pintor.

“This is a tragedy caused by neglect and a system that values the profits of private companies over the safety of the people,” Gaite said in a statement. “These deaths were preventable. This is what happens when profit is prioritized over people’s lives and environmental safety.”

Gaite criticized what he described as a slow response to the disaster and cited conflicting reports regarding the number of victims. He questioned why search and rescue operations had not yielded a clear count of the missing several days after the slide.

The former lawmaker argued that the tragedy highlights the dangers of privatizing public services like waste management without sufficient government oversight.

He called the incident a symptom of a “broken system” where poor communities bear the brunt of environmental risks while private operators face minimal accountability.

Gaite urged the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to launch a comprehensive investigation into the landfill’s safety standards and the regulatory framework governing such sites nationwide.

“We need answers,” Gaite said. “Was the landfill properly maintained? Were safety standards followed? Why were people living so close to such a hazardous site?”

He also called for immediate medical and financial assistance for the affected families, insisting that the victims must not become mere “statistics.”