Officials flag possible negligence as probe looms over Navotas landfill fire

Government officials overseeing the ongoing fire at a sanitary landfill in Navotas have raised the possibility of negligence by the landfill operator, as containment efforts reach about 80% and authorities begin laying the groundwork for accountability measures.

While firefighting operations continue, officials said preliminary assessments point to lapses in compliance with required safety and rehabilitation standards for landfill management.

“Definitely may kailangang managot dito kasi hindi naman po ito mangyayari kung walang kapabayaan,” Navotas Mayor John Reymond Tiangco said during a press conference at the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority in Pasig.

He added that coordination has already been made with legal authorities, including the Office of the Solicitor General, for possible case build-up and documentation.

Tiangco cited concerns over the implementation of the Safe Closure and Rehabilitation Plan, which is required under environmental and solid waste regulations for landfill operations.

“Maliwanag naman po sa DENR na may pananagutan ang operator po,” Tiangco added, noting that failure to properly implement long-term closure safeguards may have contributed to conditions that allowed subsurface fires to develop and spread within the landfill.

The landfill fire, which has affected a 44-hectare site, is now about 80% contained, but authorities warned that underground hotspots and shifting winds continue to complicate full suppression.

Operations remain ongoing with the support of inter-agency task forces and foreign technical assistance from the United States and Japan, including the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and US disaster response experts.

The smoke from the landfill fire affected air quality across Metro Manila, where an “acutely unhealthy” reading was recorded in multiple instances by the Air Quality Index of the Environmental Management Bureau National Capital Region.