Philippines' waste struggles: Manila mayor sounds alarm over uncollected rubbish

One of the world's most densely populated cities declares a health emergency amid mounting rubbish

Philippines waste stuggles: Manila mayor sounds alarm over uncollected rubbish
Philippines' waste stuggles: Manila mayor sounds alarm over uncollected rubbish

Philippine capital Manila under health emergency amid mounting piles of rubbish.

According to BBC, the new elected mayor of the city, Francisco Domagoso, on his first day in office, declared a health emergency over the uncontrolled rubbish.

In a Facebook livestream he urged citizens to avoid throwing their waste out for some time as two garbage collectors, PhilEco and MetroWaste, have stopped operation over payment issues with the previous administration.

He said, “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.”

“The rubbish situation is harmful to our health. They are an eyesore. They stink. 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,” he added.

Domagoso, who promised to “Make Manila Great Again" in the elections on Tuesday, led the cleanup efforts in downtown Manila, using fire trucks, water and soap to wash the streets.

He also shared the picture of the freshly cleaned road on his social media on Tuesday and wrote, “We continue bathing the streets, and we won't stop until the filth is gone.”

Domagoso also said that the bin collection company Leonel, which claimed that authorities owe it more than 560 million pesos, has agreed to once again collect waste free of cost after he “begged” them.

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