Thousands of kilograms of hazardous medical waste from Cebu City Medical Center (CCMC) and Guba Community Hospital are being packed into ordinary but sealed container vans, shipped by cargo vessel to Luzon, and hauled to Bulacan for treatment and disposal.
The arrangement came under scrutiny by the members of Cebu City Council, who were all surprise to learn about it. City Councilors raised concerns about environmental accountability, local treatment options and the transparency of the bidding process.
The councilors discovered the arrangement during the deliberations on a resolution authorizing Mayor Nestor Archival to sign a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with HCML Logistics Service for the collection and transport of hazardous healthcare waste generated by the two City government-run hospitals. The proposed contract is worth ?4,085,690.
Documents attached to the resolution show that HCML was declared the lowest calculated and responsive bidder.
The company would collect hazardous healthcare waste from the two hospitals and transport it to Total Organic Environmental Solutions Inc. (TOESI), a Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR)-accredited treatment, storage and disposal facility in Pulilan, Bulacan.
The questions were raised primarily by Councilor Joel Garganera, Environment Committee chairman, who said recent reports of improper waste disposal in nearby localities underscored the need for the government to know exactly where hazardous hospital waste ultimately ends up.
“We cannot allow that hazardous waste will be just a mere transfer of address to other areas that will cause environmental degradation,” Garganera said as he pressed hospital officials and the winning contractor for details on the technology, location and final disposal process for Cebu City’s infectious medical waste.
Garganera’s concerns came amid heightened public attention over waste disposal issues in Cebu.
Earlier, authorities in Talisay City investigated an attempted illegal dumping incident involving truckloads of hospital waste from Mandaue City in Barangay Jaclupan, prompting city officials to pursue charges and intensify enforcement of environmental regulations.
During the council’s regular session, HCML representative Muana Tragico disclosed that the company hauls approximately 3,000 kilograms of infectious waste every week.
Tragico said the waste is packed and sealed inside a container van, transported by vessel from Cebu, and delivered to Bulacan for treatment.
When Councilor Franklyn Ong asked whether refrigerated vehicles were used, Tragico admitted that the company only uses an ordinary container van that is sealed before transport.
“Ordinary container van lang siya,” he said, adding that the trip to Bulacan takes roughly five days.
The disclosure prompted further questions from council members, with Ong noting that hazardous waste is usually transported in refrigerated container vans. Tragico, however, maintained that the company complies with DENR standards.
Vice Mayor Tomas Osmeña, who presided over the discussion, repeatedly sought clarification on the waste’s final destination and the process used to treat it.
He also questioned why waste generated in Cebu had to be transported all the way to Bulacan. At one point, Osmeña referred to a treatment facility in Toledo City and asked whether it was the same company being tapped for the service.
He said he had even been invited to inspect the facility. Osmeña later called for transparency in the bidding process.
“In the interest of transparency, we just want to know whether there was a proper selection, whether everyone was notified, and whether there was fair competition in the selection of the provider,” the vice mayor said.
He also remarked: “That’s rather strange for us to bring our garbage to Bulacan.”
Ong likewise questioned the arrangement, noting that Cebu already has an established medical waste treatment facility.
“It’s good to note also that there is a facility, a very nice facility, in MEPZ, where they’re handling most of the hospital waste,” Ong said.
“That’s why it’s very surprising to know that our medical wastes are being transported to other cities,” he added.
Other councilors noted that transporting waste all the way to Bulacan appeared likely to increase operational costs, making it surprising that the arrangement still emerged as the winning bid.
Meanwhile, Councilor Mikel Rama focused on the procurement structure. Rama pointed out that the bidding documents described the project as covering the collection, transport, treatment and disposal of hazardous waste.
However, documents later presented to the council showed that HCML would primarily handle transportation, while another company would perform the actual treatment and disposal.
“Based on the bid documents, the procurement is supposed to be for transport, treatment and disposal of hazardous waste,” Rama said.
“When they bidded it out, the winning bidder is HCML. But based on the documents, the service that they can provide is only transport, and then they contracted out the treatment and disposal to another entity.”
It was also noted that the MOA between the city and HCML did not specifically identify where the waste would ultimately be treated and disposed of, although the separate agreement between HCML and TOESI identified the Bulacan facility.
Garganera continued to press officials on accountability beyond transportation, stressing that the government’s responsibility does not end once the waste leaves Cebu City.
He asked what safeguards were in place to ensure that the hazardous waste was properly treated and did not simply become another community’s environmental problem. Hospital officials defended the arrangement.
Dr. Anton Oliver Reposar II, CCMC chief of hospital, said the hospitals’ responsibility was to properly segregate and label infectious waste before turning it over to the contractor. He said treatment and disposal were handled by the accredited service provider and monitored by the DENR’s Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) through permits, manifests and certificates of treatment.
Dr. Carol Cajegas, officer-in-charge of Guba Community Hospital, added that technical evaluators had visited the Bulacan facility and reviewed HCML’s agreement with TOESI before recommending the contract.
Procurement records show that HCML submitted the lowest responsive bid of ?4,085,690, beating proposals from ZIGS Eco Sanitation Corporation, Cleanaway Philippines Inc. and Medclean Management Solutions Inc.
ZIGS was later disqualified due to deficiencies in its bid security requirements. The resolution authorizes Archival to sign the MOA with HCML for the collection and transport of hazardous healthcare waste from CCMC and Guba Community Hospital, with TOESI designated as the treatment and disposal facility in Bulacan.
The contract will remain in effect until Dec. 31, 2026. Despite the questions raised, the City Council approved the resolution, with Rama abstaining