CEBU CITY, PHILIPPINES — A unified position on waste-to-energy (WTE) is expected soon as Cebu City Mayor Nestor Archival and provincial officials prepare to meet on February 20 ahead of a planned summit on waste management in Cebu.
No date and venue have been revealed for this summit yet, but Archival revealed that the issue of garbage and WTE was already raised during their Regional Development Council (RDC) meeting in Manila.
“Usa gitan-aw sa grupo, mao ang Waste to Energy,” he said, noting that the upcoming meeting will involve Cebu City, Cebu Province, and component cities, together with national agencies.
“Ang ato, unsay direction sa Cebu City and sa tanang component cities and the Province. We will come up with a decision…dili lang ang Cebu City, dili lang ang Lapu-Lapu or Mandaue, Minglanilla…ang tibuok gyud because we will have something like a summit for this. But we start with the meeting of the minds first,” Archival explained.
The mayor disclosed that one option is a single WTE facility for the entire island.
“Ang WTE man gud, usa sa importante ana ang source of garbage. Kay usa sa gusto sa mga mag-invest is the steady flow of garbage. Kay og wala nay garbage…wala na sila’y mahimong kuryente,” he said, emphasizing the economic logic behind investor interest.
Archival, however, continues to temper expectations. “Although, they say this is the last resort, ang ako lang is the conventional way—segregation, composting, recycle, use it in another resort,” he stressed, reiterating his advocacy for traditional waste management methods.
Earlier, he said he is open to WTE only if the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) issues the proper guidelines.
OPPOSITION VS. WTE
Opposition to WTE in Cebu is widely felt, from residents to cause-oriented groups who warn of health and environmental risks.
The proposed ₱5-billion WTE project in Cebu City with New Sky Energy Philippines faced petitions from communities citing toxic emissions and fly ash, echoing concerns that led to the closure of the Inayawan landfill years earlier after a Supreme Court ruling on “serious health risks.”
The tragic trash slide at the Binaliw landfill, which killed dozens, has further deepened skepticism toward this kind of project.
GOV. PAM FAVORS WTE
Cebu Province, under Governor Pamela Baricuatro, is pressing forward with WTE adoption.
Baricuatro has described the project earlier as “an urgent and immediate need” and confirmed that the Capitol is already in talks with proponents for a facility in Naga City.
She has championed a public-private partnership model, framing WTE as critical to solving the province’s escalating garbage crisis.
Provincial officials have also benchmarked advanced WTE facilities abroad, underscoring their commitment to modern waste solutions.
The outcome on the upcoming meeting is expected to be a turning point in how Cebu confronts its mounting garbage crisis here.
| Written by Caecent No-ot Magsumbol
