FEBRUARY 23, 2026 — Another landfill collapse has struck Rodriguez, Rizal — this time at the Green Leap Sanitary Landfill in Barangay San Isidro. On Friday afternoon, February 20, a massive trash slide buried parts of the site, leaving three individuals still missing. The municipal government confirmed the incident and called it a “matter of national concern,” urging the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to step in.

The DENR’s Environmental Management Bureau (EMB-Calabarzon) quickly deployed personnel to assess the damage, verify reports of missing persons, and order immediate stabilization measures. These include slope leveling, daily soil covering, restricting heavy equipment in risky zones, and tighter inspections. A technical conference is also set to tackle compliance issues with the landfill’s Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC).

This isn’t the first time Rodriguez has been in the headlines for landfill disasters. Just days ago, reports surfaced of workers injured in a similar collapse at another site in the same town. Add to that the claims from urban poor groups that dozens more may have been trapped in the trash slide, though official numbers remain at three missing.

We cannot keep treating these incidents as isolated accidents. They are symptoms of a larger failure in waste management and oversight. Rodriguez, Rizal has become a recurring headline for landfill tragedies, and that should alarm us all.

Imagine waking up each day knowing a mountain of garbage could swallow your home without warning — How long before fear becomes your normal?

(Image: Philippine News Agency)