TARLAC, Philippines – Several fully-loaded garbage trucks have been queueing outside the Kalangitan sanitary landfill since Friday, October 25, following the cessation of operations by Metro Clark Waste Management Corporation (MCWMC) after its temporary restraining order expired last Thursday, October 24.
Garbage truck driver, Glen, whose last name was withheld upon request, said they were unaware of the closure as they were not advised to reroute their garbage to Porac’s waste facility, Prime Waste Solution. He has been waiting outside the Kalangitan landfill since 3 am, Saturday, along with 19 other drivers.
Glen transports waste from a private residential subdivision in Angeles City. He said that Prime Waste charged at least P200 per ton making it inefficient for them to transport waste there.
“Mitas yang mga P200 per ton,” Glen told Rappler on Saturday in Kapampangan language.
“Manenaya kami mu kaniyan. Ali mi ya man. Sabi ning boss mi mas matas ya karin. Nung mamayad kung P1,000 per tonelada keni, karin P1,200 ya. Mibalik ke kaniyan, ugse mi kaniyan Porac. Ala kaming akarapat,” he added.
(Costs have increased by approximately P200 per ton. We’re currently in limbo. My boss informed me that it’s costly there. If we pay P1,000 per ton here, it’s P1,200 in Porac. We might just end up going back to Porac to dispose of it. There’s not much we can do.)
MCWMC said the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) favored 10 waste management companies for the disposal of garbage from over 150 local government units (LGUs) without public bidding. Three of these companies are endorsed by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources – Environmental Management Bureau (DENR-EMB) and are located in Pampanga: Enviro Park Project Corporation in Floridablanca, and Eco Protect Management Corporation and Prime Waste Solutions. The latter two are both located in Porac.
The city environment and natural resources office (CENRO) of San Fernando told Rappler that households, in its 35 villages, are not charged for waste disposal, despite having the legal authority to impose such fees.
CENRO officer-in-charge Gemma Doble said the costs for final disposal are covered by the city’s budget. The city operates a central materials recovery facility in all its barangays, which serves as a transfer station for residual waste, with daily hauling by Metro Clark. Doble noted that discussions with MCWMC regarding their final disposal are ongoing.
“Wala kami sinisingil sa household kahit na pwede maningil ayon sa batas. Kaya ang final disposal ay nakabudget ayon sa city,” Doble told Rappler in an interview on October 28.
(We don’t charge anything to the household even though we can charge according to the law. So the final disposal is budgeted according to the city.)
“Sa 35 barangays meron ang city ng central materials recovery facility kung saan nagsisilbing transfer station of residual waste mula sa barangay at doon ang hauling ng Metro Clark daily,” Doble added.
(The city has a central materials recovery facility for its 35 barangays that serves as a transfer station of residual waste from each barangay along with the daily hauling of Metro Clark.)
MCWMC executive vice president Victoria Gaetos said they are exhausting all legal remedies to continue their operations at the Kalangitan landfill. Gaetos said that they still have the right to possess the property, as they have not received an ejection order from the court to vacate it as neither BCDA nor Clark Development Corporation (CDC) have not filed any formal eviction or unlawful detainer case against them.
“Naniniwala kami na masusunod naman yung kamay ng batas kasi under the rule of law pa naman tayo. So gagawin namin lahat ng magagawa namin para maicontinue namin yung services namin sa aming mga clients. For now, we are sorry na naiinterrupt,” Gaetos told Rappler on Saturday.
(We believe that the rule of law will be followed because we are still under it. So we will do everything to continue our services to our clients. For now, we are sorry that it is being interrupted.)
“We need the court order because until now we have not received any filed case for eviction against Metro Clark. We still stand by our position that without that court order they cannot evict us,” Gaetos added.
MCWMC said in its statement that it did not want any unnecessary conflict and the possibility of untoward incidents with BCDA and CDC, who have allegedly taken actions to forcibly take over the property. Both BCDA and CDC welcomed the decision of the Angeles City Regional Trial Court Branch 114 for dismissing MCWMC’s complaint seeking an automatic renewal of its 25-year contract for 100-hectare Kalangitan landfill, which expired on October 6.
MCWMC said it presented a $250 million waste-to-energy proposal to BCDA and CDC in 2022, but it was never considered. While the project initially received strong support from BCDA, recent developments, including the closure of the Kalangitan landfill, have raised concerns about the future of the waste-to-energy WTE plant.
Norbert Plambeck, chief executive officer of Plambeck Emirates, said that the proposed WTE plant could have significantly modernized waste management in the Philippines while aligning with global sustainability standards. The WTE proposed project was intended to be fully fully funded by Plambeck Emirates with no financial burden or risk on the Philippine government.
Plambeck said the WTE plant is envisioned as a flagship initiative for sustainable energy, demonstrating cutting-edge waste management solutions while enhancing the country’s renewable energy sector.
“We believe this project could have brought transformative benefits to the Philippines by providing a state-of-the-art waste management solution on par with the best facilities in Europe,” Plambeck said in an interview last September.
Rappler reached out to BCDA regarding their WTE plans. We will update this story once we receive their response. –Rappler.com