Just a day after Mayor Nestor Archival publicly ‘blamed’ some unnamed city councilors’ privilege speeches for allegedly prompting Prime Integrated Waste Solutions (PIWS) to bar Cebu City from dumping at the Binaliw landfill, the body demanded a full legal review of the operator’s permit and compliance.
This was agreed upon during the privilege speech of Councilor Sisinio Andales, who recalled the January 8, 2026, collapse of a 20-story trash mound at Binaliw that killed 36 people and wounded several others.
He dated back the landfill’s troubled history to its beginnings under ARN Central Waste Management in 2019, through its takeover by PIWS in 2023, which drew complaints of foul odors, water contamination, and unchecked earth-moving that preceded the catastrophe.
‘Kaniadto malipay ta. Naa ang kwarta sa basura, pero karon problema na ta sa basura,’ Andales said.
He called the city’s exclusion from Binaliw ‘an insult to injury,’ stressing that taxpayers were being financially burdened while private haulers continued to profit from facilities within Cebu City’s jurisdiction.
In his speech, Andales called on the City Legal Office to study legal options, including filing a breach of contract case or a petition for mandamus, so that Cebu City’s garbage could once again be brought to Binaliw.
He also urged the Business Permit and Licensing Office to examine whether PIWS has violated local ordinances or safety, health, environmental, or zoning regulations that could justify the revocation of its business permit.
Andales also called for the fast-tracking of barangay-level waste segregation and the pursuit of sustainable long-term waste treatment alternatives.
The landfill, managed by PIWS since 2023, has been under scrutiny since the deadly collapse.
Although the DENR partially lifted its cease-and-desist order, allowing limited operations, city officials say PIWS continues to refuse Cebu City’s waste while accommodating private haulers.
This has forced the city to haul garbage 60 kilometers away to Aloguinsan at a staggering cost of P3,906 per ton.
Archival, in his remarks a day earlier, had said that repeated calls over Binaliw’s safety concerns from councilors gave Prime Waste reason to shut the city out. The mayor made the statement after a week of expressing confusion over why the city was no longer allowed to dispose of its waste at Binaliw while private haulers continued to do so.
Councilor Pastor ‘Jun’ Alcover, on the other hand, also authored a resolution expressing support for Archival’s earlier move to review PIWS’s qualifications and operational compliance.
The measure, which was approved by the council, directs the City Legal Office, the BPLO, and the City Environment and Natural Resources Office to determine possible remedies, including the revocation of PIWS’s permit should its refusal to accept Cebu City’s waste be found contrary to law or prejudicial to the public interest