IN a sign that the fire at the Navotas Sanitary Landfill may finally be coming under control since it began more than three weeks ago, the Philippine Space Agency reported that air pollution across Metro Manila has decreased and air quality has returned to pre-fire levels.
But while the decrease in the levels of nitrogen dioxide is encouraging, it is far too early to declare victory and celebrate, as the authorities continue to grapple with three challenges. The most urgent of these, of course, is to completely extinguish the fire, which has become a significant environmental and public health hazard for Metro Manila and its surrounding provinces.
The landfill fire burned through a total of 31.95 hectares, but that number does not account for the actively burning area. This means that, while the open flames are under control, deep-seated “hotspots” underneath the layers of waste continue to pose a challenge.
The Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) and the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) have been using soil capping and compaction to control the fire. Because landfill fires, fueled by methane, often burn underground, standard water dousing is insufficient. Firefighters are smothering the fire with layers of earth and mud to cut off oxygen.
As the authorities work to extinguish the fire, they must also ascertain responsibility for the slow-burning source of pollution, and find ways to make sure this doesn’t happen again in other landfill sites.
To establish accountability, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) is working with the Office of the Solicitor General to file cases against the landfill operator, Philippine Ecology Systems Corp. (PhilEco).
Although the landfill ceased operations in August 2025, investigations suggest it was not properly closed, meaning it was not capped and stabilized with gas vents. The lack of these measures likely allowed methane to build up, leading to the fire.
The facility’s former operator, however, says the site’s new owner, San Miguel Aerocity Inc. (SMAI), and the government’s handling of the site’s takeover are to blame for the fire.
The company said it ceased to have control of the facility on Feb. 13, 2026, after SMAI — a subsidiary of San Miguel Corp. — enforced a court-backed writ of possession to use the land for its airport-related infrastructure project. PhilEco argued that because they were removed from the site, they were prevented from completing the safe closure and rehabilitation plan they had already begun.
SMAI, on the other hand, asserted that PhilEco was in breach of its closure obligations long before the February takeover, and that the company was given ample time and a grace period to secure the site, which they alleged PhilEco failed to do.
Further complicating the picture, Cardinal Pablo Virgilio David, the bishop of Kalookan, called for accountability within the regulatory agencies themselves, pointing to possible lapses in oversight and the failure to monitor the site after its closure in 2025.
In the face of this finger-pointing, calls for an independent investigation merit serious consideration.
Environmental groups supporting these calls, such as BAN Toxics, argue that the landfill fire is a symptom of systemic failure, rather than an isolated accident.
EcoWaste Coalition says any investigation must be transparent and include representation from civil society and grassroots organizations. Greenpeace Philippines, too, supports the call for accountability, saying the fire is part of a “dangerous pattern of waste catastrophes” in the country.
Beyond establishing accountability, the authorities need to ensure that there will be no recurrence in Navotas and other sites.
In the wake of the landfill fire, the DENR now requires all sanitary landfill operators nationwide to submit emergency fire and disaster response plans.
Technical experts, meanwhile, recommend the immediate installation of gas extraction pipes and “flaring” systems to safely release or burn off underground methane before it can ignite.
The use of thermal imaging drones is also being proposed to scan landfills for subsurface heat signatures, allowing authorities to intervene before a fire reaches the surface.
Finally, it is clear that there is a need to build up the BFP’s firefighting capacity.
BFP personnel are traditionally trained to fight urban fires. This suggests the need to build up their capacity to deal with environmental fires, including those in grasslands, forests and waste sites, and to improve response times for these types of disasters.
The country has already suffered three major landfill disasters this year. This statistic alone suggests the urgent need to institute reforms in the country’s waste management system with an eye toward health and safety, not only for the workers at the landfill sites, but also for the communities around them.
