'Public health crisis looms'

In a privilege speech, Garganera said the city's garbage problem is already "nearing the point of no return." He attributed the situation to environmental and institutional failures that have left the city grappling with more than 600 tons of daily waste, a defunct landfill, and the collapse of the long-planned WTE project.

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Garganera, chairperson of the committee on environment, described the worsening situation as both a personal and collective concern, one that affects not only the present generation but those yet to come.

“We will all be standing in heaps of garbage in no time,” he said, citing Cebu City’s limited land resources and the compounding impact of recent calamities that have exposed weaknesses in infrastructure, watershed management, and environmental stewardship. At present, the city relies solely on the Binaliw landfill.

He lamented the continued degradation of Cebu’s rivers and upland areas, where deforestation and unregulated quarrying have further disturbed the city’s ecological balance.

“Our rivers are clogged with garbage, our mountains stripped bare—and worse, we've turned them into dumping grounds,” he said.

The Inayawan landfill, ordered closed by the Supreme Court in 2017 after a Writ of Kalikasan filed by Garganera himself, has yet to undergo proper closure and rehabilitation. Despite operating far beyond its intended 12-year lifespan, the facility remains in limbo amid unresolved land disputes and issues involving third-party contractors.