Latest news with #FranciscoDomagoso
Arab News
05-07-2025
- Politics
- Arab News
Manila mayor launches weekly clean-up drive to deal with city's garbage crisis
MANILA: Manila, one of the world's most densely-populated cities, launched a weekly clean-up initiative on Saturday to address its worsening garbage problem, in the same week that a state of emergency was declared in the Philippine capital due to piles of uncollected rubbish. For weeks, garbage has been causing problems in the city, with roads becoming impassable for cars in some areas and the stench of rotting waste inescapable for Manila's two million residents. The reason behind the crisis was revealed on Monday, when Manila Mayor Francisco Domagoso assumed office: the capital's rubbish collection contractors had quit, claiming they were owed millions of dollars by the previous administration. 'Since the beginning of 2025, it was obvious that the garbage trucks weren't coming in regularly — unlike the year before,' Manila resident Sophie Escudero told Arab News on Saturday. 'Every time I (go out), the garbage is just way more than what I normally see.' By Tuesday, Domagoso had declared a state of health emergency and issued an executive order mandating 'every Saturday … as regular clean-up and de-clogging day throughout the city of Manila,' and highlighting the city's 'deteriorating sanitary conditions and worsening garbage collection problem' as a hazard to people's health and safety. Under the order, the city's Department of Public Services and the Department of Engineering and Public Works are directed to take part in the weekly, citywide clean-up drive. Residents are also 'strongly encouraged' to participate. 'I need everyone's cooperation—because together, we can make Manila great again,' Domagoso said on Friday. 'I humbly appeal to everyone: let's work together to lift our city up and make it a cleaner, more livable, and more peaceful place for our fellow citizens here in the nation's capital.' He also claimed that he could 'confidently say' the garbage crisis was '70 percent solved,' after joint efforts from city officials and having reached out to a former waste collection contractor for help. The emergency declaration also allowed his office to access 'more resources and exercise broader authority,' he said. Domagoso, a former teen idol also known by his screen name Isko Moreno, prioritized cleaning up the city's streets during his first stint as mayor from 2019 to 2022. He won the election in May with a promise to 'Make Manila Great Again.' 'The reason I voted for Isko was because, somehow, you could actually be proud that Manila was at least a bit clean (during his previous term in office). Because when (his successor, former Mayor Honey) Lacuna took over, I was so frustrated. In some streets, you couldn't even pass through,' Manila resident Malu Rongalerios told Arab News. 'Now, the improvement is huge. No joke.' Prior to this week, Rongalerios said garbage trucks had only been coming to his neighborhood once or twice a week. 'That's just not acceptable,' he said. 'We even segregate our trash. We make sure to take it out properly. To step out of your house and see trash everywhere? That's just too much.' On Saturday, city authorities across Manila were flushing the streets with water, hauling piles of garbage away, and de-clogging drains to comply with the executive order. The city's garbage crisis would have been preventable if 'waste reduction measures such as bans on single-use plastic and support for reusable packaging and refill systems were to be implemented,' claimed Marian Ledesma, a zero-waste campaigner with Greenpeace Philippines, who warned that Manila may face a similar crisis in the future if strict waste segregation from households and businesses is not enforced. 'Right now, collectors just dump everything into one truck,' Ledesma told Arab News. 'This poor collection practice of mixing waste doesn't (reward) the good habits of people who do segregate, and cities lose valuable resources because glass and other recyclables are thrown out, and food or organic waste that can be composted are mixed with other waste.'
Straits Times
04-07-2025
- Politics
- Straits Times
Manila's mayor returns to office to face mountains of trash
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox Manila Mayor Francisco Domagoso declared a state of public health emergency amid piles of uncollected rubbish across his city. MANILA – Mr Francisco Domagoso returned to office as mayor of Manila, the Philippines, on June 30 to the news that the companies that collect the city's garbage were ending their services that day, citing unpaid bills. Weeks before, piles of garbage had started taking over the city, the Philippine capital. In some areas, roads became impassable for cars. Mountains of refuse lined crowded commercial areas, as well as the wide avenues leading to city hall and the country's Supreme Court. Trash bags and discarded crates floated down streets flooded by the monsoon rains. Litter is a fact of life in Manila, where grand colonial buildings are cramped by modern high-rises and dense shanty towns. But for weeks, the smell of rot has grown inescapable for nearly 2 million residents as uncollected waste stewed in the humid South-east Asian weather. 'It hurts the eyes, it hurts the nose, and it hurts public health,' Mr Domagoso said, speaking on a livestream on June 30, where he asked residents to store garbage in their homes until collection returned to normal. He declared a state of emergency in the city the next day. The mayor, a former actor known as Isko Moreno, worked as a garbage collector before beginning his acting career. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. World Trump says countries to start paying tariffs on Aug 1, floats range of 10% to 70% Singapore Sengkang murder: Man accused of killing elderly mother escorted back to crime scene Singapore Multiple charges for man accused of damaging PAP campaign materials on GE2025 Polling Day Singapore Jail for man who recruited 2 Japanese women for prostitution at MBS Asia Malaysia dismantles ISIS network involving workers from Bangladesh Asia Chinese national missing in Thailand rescued, embassy warns of shady job offers Business Central banks tweak US dollar reserves, with euro and gold gaining ground: UBS survey Singapore Seller's stamp duty rates for private homes raised; holding period increased from 3 years to 4 In a speech to the City Council on July 1, Mr Domagoso blamed the government of the previous mayor, Dr Honey Lacuna, for leaving the city in debt to the garbage collectors. Dr Lacuna did not respond to requests for comment. Trash collection and other public services tend to suffer when cities in metropolitan Manila change hands, a Philippine political observer said. 'In a way, this is a usual thing for transitions, so it feels like it's being used for political purposes by both sides,' said Mr Tony La Vina, director of the Klima Centre at the Manila Observatory, an environmental research centre. The two private companies that collect garbage for the city said in letters that they were ending their services. In the letters, which the mayor read on the livestream, they said they had begun working for the city in February and had not been paid since. Residents began complaining about trash on social media in mid-June. The city's unpaid bills were the equivalent of nearly US$17 million (S$22 million), Mr Domagoso said, an amount that was a fraction of the city's debt for service contracts, infrastructure projects and social benefits. 'The capital of the country is already in the financial ICU,' Mr Domagoso said in the speech. The mayor said he would investigate why the city's coffers were in dire straits. 'If they're in debt, it's completely unnecessary because it's one of the top five richest cities in the Philippines,' Mr La Vina said. Mr Domagoso leveraged his acting fame and clean-cut image to first become mayor of Manila in 2019, promising to clean up the densely populated capital. He set his sights on national office and ran for president in 2022 , finishing in fourth place. He won handily in the mayoral election against Dr Lacuna in May. Dr Lacuna had served as vice-mayor during Mr Domagoso's first term, and the two were allies until Mr Domagoso decided to return to Manila. On June 30, a new contractor worked through the night to pick up trash, free of charge as a favour to Mr Domagoso, he told local media, and water trucks followed the garbage collectors, hosing down the streets. On July 4, he posted photos of cars and motorcycles running unencumbered on two major thoroughfares finally clear of waste. NYTIMES
New York Times
04-07-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
Manila's Mayor Returns to Office to Face Mountains of Trash
Francisco Domagoso returned to office as Manila's mayor on Monday to the news that the companies that collect the city's garbage were ending their services that day, citing unpaid bills. Weeks before, piles of garbage had started taking over the city, the Philippine capital. In some areas, roads became impassable for cars. Mountains of refuse lined crowded commercial areas, as well as the wide avenues leading to City Hall and the country's Supreme Court. Trash bags and discarded crates floated down streets flooded by the monsoon rains. Litter is a fact of life in Manila, where grand colonial buildings are cramped by modern high-rises and dense shanty towns. But for weeks, the smell of rot has grown inescapable for nearly two million residents as uncollected waste stewed in the humid Southeast Asian weather. 'It hurts the eyes, it hurts the nose, and it hurts public health,' Mr. Domagoso said, speaking on a livestream on Monday, where he asked residents to store garbage in their homes until collection returned to normal. He declared a state of emergency in the city the next day. The mayor himself, a former actor known as Isko Moreno, worked as a garbage collector before beginning his acting career. In a speech to the City Council on Tuesday, Mr. Domagoso blamed the government of the previous mayor, Honey Lacuna, for leaving the city in debt to the garbage collectors. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
BBC News
01-07-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Philippines: Manila warns of health emergency over mounting rubbish
Manila, one of the world's most densely-populated cities, is set to declare a health emergency due to mounds of uncollected newly-elected mayor, Francisco Domagoso, has advised the Philippine capital's nearly two million residents to refrain from taking out their waste until the city finds a new bin he assumed office Tuesday, Domagoso said Manila's two rubbish collection contractors quit, citing millions of dollars in owed payments."The rubbish situation is harmful to our health. They are an eyesore. They stink," Domagoso said. "Rubbish dumped carelessly is harmful to the elderly, to the sick and to children. Insects that fly over piles of trash can land on the food we eat," Domagoso said in a Facebook broadcast on appealed to Manila residents, "If possible, if only just for a while, please delay bringing your trash out. Keep it inside your homes until we normalise the collection of garbage in Manila".He said he hoped the new city council would declare a health emergency as early as Tuesday to give him wider authority to address the rubbish former teen idol, also known by his screen name Isko Moreno, won the May election, promising to "Make Manila Great Again". On Tuesday morning, he led city authorities in washing down the streets of downtown Manila with water and soap from fire also prioritised cleaning up the city's streets during his first three-year term as mayor that ended in 2022. While cleaning a monument near city hall in 2019, he accidentally stepped on human excrement on the pavement, underscoring the seriousness of the task at campaign then was considered largely successful and made him a popular national figure. He tried to parlay this into a presidential campaign in 2022 but he lost to incumbent Ferdinand Marcos Monday, Domagoso said two bin collection companies, PhilEco and MetroWaste, had terminated their contracts with the city, since it owes them 400 million pesos ($7m; £5m).Leonel, a previous waste collection contractor, said Manila owed it more than 560 million Domagoso said Leonel has agreed to resume collecting rubbish for free after he "begged" them to do so."We continue bathing the streets and we won't stop until the filth is gone," Domagoso wrote in a Facebook post on Tuesday, showing photos of freshly washed said in a television interview on Tuesday that he expected the waste situation to return to normal in three days.
