The suspension of the New Carmen Sanitary Landfill in Davao City could be lifted as early as next week, a senior Department of Environment and Natural Resources official said Saturday, provided the city government completes all required safety measures.
DENR Assistant Secretary Norlito Eneran, the department’s assistant secretary for Legal Affairs, Enforcement and Human Resources, made the statement in an interview on DZRH News program “Special on Saturday” on June 6.
The landfill has been closed since May 22, two days after a trash slide on May 20 killed two people, injured others, and displaced some 180 families living near the facility.
DENR ordered the suspension to allow slope stabilization work and prevent further risks to the surrounding community.
“Effective next week, kung mako-comply lang po ng LGU Davao ‘yung ating mga requirements ay pupwede na nating ma-lift ang suspension,” Eneran said.
He said the suspension order carried specific conditions that the Davao City government must satisfy before operations can resume, primarily ensuring the landfill is structurally safe and poses no further danger to nearby residents.
Eneran noted that the city government had already filed a motion for reconsideration of the suspension order and signaled its willingness to comply with DENR’s conditions, which he described as a positive development.
When asked whether a partial or gradual resumption—at 70 to 80 percent capacity—could be allowed pending full compliance, Eneran said it was among the considerations, but stressed that safety remained the overriding condition for any lifting of the suspension.
The DENR official pushed back against criticism that the agency failed to offer alternatives, saying DENR had identified two temporary dump sites—one in Panabo and one in Santa Cruz—and proposed temporary transfer areas even before the formal suspension took effect.
Davao City Mayor Sebastian Duterte had accused DENR of “bureaucratic ineptitude” for closing the landfill, which handles roughly 750 tons of waste daily and serves nearly two million residents, without providing a clear timeline for reopening.
The landfill serves 89% of Davao City’s waste disposal needs, according to Eneran.
