Garbage crisis still grips Oro

THE stench of uncollected trash once again wafts through Cagayan de Oro’s main thoroughfares. Piles of garbage along J.R. Borja Extension and low-lying barangays expose cracks in the city’s waste system that run deeper than missed collections. 

A dive down into public records, regulatory documents, and official reports reveals a city struggling to keep up with its own garbage — bogged down by equipment failures, questionable landfill operations, and an uneven barangay-level enforcement system that leaves thousands of tons of waste unmanaged each month. 

Contractor chaos: Trucks too big for the job 

The city government tapped Standard Systems Water and Wastewater Technologies, Inc. to take over garbage collection on September 26, after its previous contractor’s term expired. Within days, residents reported missed pickups, trucks stuck in narrow streets, and even two crashes involving the new units, according to multiple local reports. 

“We will double our efforts… strengthen garbage collection operations in the shortest possible time,” Standard Systems CDO Hauling General Manager Jobelyn Gacrama stated in a paid advertorial with Gold Star Daily, published last Friday, October 3. 

Critics say the rollout exposed a basic logistical oversight: the city’s inner neighborhoods are threaded with streets too narrow for Standard Systems compactors. 

GREEN HAULER. A massive 10-wheeler compactor truck operated by Standard Systems winds through the narrow streets of Cogon, downtown Cagayan de Oro — a sight that has sparked public debate over the city’s new waste collection system. Photo by Cong B. Corrales

“It’s a mismatch between fleet and route. Some of these trucks simply can’t pass,” said a barangay tanod from Carmen, requesting anonymity for fear of reprisal. 

The company says it is adjusting routes and using transfer stations to consolidate waste before hauling it to the landfill using larger 12-wheeler trucks. The city’s first garbage transfer station, recently completed in Barangay Pagatpat, is meant to improve efficiency — all collected waste will be brought there and reloaded onto five 12-wheelers and two 10-wheelers for final disposal at the Pagalungan sanitary landfill. 

All collected waste will be brought to the new facility, where it will be transferred to large-capacity dump trucks — five 12-wheelers and two 10-wheelers — for transport and disposal at the city’s Engineered Sanitary Landfill in Barangay Pagalungan. 

Officials said the transfer station is expected to improve the efficiency of waste collection and disposal operations across the city. 

But complaints of overflowing drop points persist. 

The landfill that failed the test 

At the heart of the waste system of the city sits the Pagalungan sanitary landfill — and it’s in trouble. 

A Department of Environment and Natural Resources-Environmental Management Bureau-10 inspection on August 7 last year found a 7,000-square-meter expansion cell missing a high-density polyethylene (HDPE) liner, exposing the ground to leachate seepage. 

The landfill’s leachate treatment plant — critical to preventing toxic runoff — was also non-operational, prompting a show-cause order issued on January 30, this year. Environmental experts warned that the violations threaten groundwater and could earn the city penalties under Republic Act 9003, the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act. 

In a 2023 study by Gina Caminero Lacang of the University of Science and Technology of Southern Philippines, the Pagalungan landfill’s leachate showed its highest metal concentration in lead. 

Published in the International Journal of Biosciences, Lacang characterized leachate from Pagalungan Landfill to be acidic (pH ~ 6.47) with “very high organic load: BOD₅ ≈ 3,809.27 mg/L and COD ≈ 23,264 mg/L.” 

However, city records do not show whether the violations have been fully corrected. 

Barangay lapses in waste policy enforcement 

City Ordinance No. 13378-2018 mandates that only segregated waste be collected. The “No segregation, no collection” policy took effect citywide on March 1, 2024. By July 2024, officials boasted that 71 of 80 barangays (about 89%) had complied. 

But the numbers hide persistent non-compliance in poorer and coastal districts, where residents often dump mixed waste at roadside collection points. 

The result: contaminated loads at material recovery facilities (MRFs) and higher landfill volumes, eroding recycling targets. 

The plastic problem: Systemic leakage exposed by data 

A 2024 Plastic Smart Cities study gave the city a scientific snapshot of its waste flow. Using Waste Analysis and Characterization Study (WACS) and Waste Flow Diagram (WFD) tools, researchers found that while 92% of municipal solid waste is collected, nearly 9% of plastic waste still leaks into waterways and the environment. 

These “leak hotspots” were concentrated along riverside barangays, markets, and coastal zones — areas that remain under-served by the collection fleet. 

The findings, published on September 16, highlight how mechanical inefficiencies and behavioral gaps converge to worsen plastic pollution. 

Government response: Plans, promises, penalties 

In response, city officials have proposed penalties for errant contractors and incentives for compliant barangays, including new garbage trucks and MRF funding. 

The City Local Environment and Natural Resources Office (Clenro) outlined three core programs for 2025: 

1. Waste Control and Enforcement – barangay audits, violation receipts, and clean-up drives. 

2. Landfill Management – tipping oversight and volume monitoring. 

3. Composting and Ecopark Development – organic waste diversion projects. 

But with leachate violations unresolved and public complaints mounting, critics argue that the city’s response remains reactive. 

“It’s firefighting, not planning. They fix one problem after the fact, then another one pops up,” said climate justice advocate Pat Jared Pangantihon of Philippine Movement Climate Justice. 

What needs to change 

Experts point to several systemic fixes: 

• Repair and re-certify the Pagalungan landfill — replace liners and restore full leachate treatment. 
• Deploy small-format trucks or e-vehicles for narrow barangays to eliminate informal dumpsites. 
• Publish real-time collection data to rebuild public trust. 
• Update the Waste Flow Diagram annually to track leakage and diversion. 

A city at a crossroads 

Cagayan de Oro’s waste problem is no longer about litter — it’s about governance, logistics, and transparency. 

The city’s 2024–2025 record shows progress on paper but disarray on the ground. 

Unless it fixes the fleet mismatch, enforces landfill compliance, and sustains barangay-level discipline, its vision of a “clean and green CDO” will remain buried under its own trash.