First Body Recovered from Rodriguez Landfill Collapse — Two More Still Missing as Mayor Says Manual Retrieval Will Be Slow
The body of one of three people reported missing after a landfill collapsed in Rodriguez (Montalban), Rizal has been recovered, Mayor Ronnie Evangelista confirmed Monday. The retrieval was made on Sunday, February 22.
But finding the two remaining victims won’t be easy. ‘The retrieval will not be that easy since this is not an ordinary landslide, and retrieval will be done manually,’ the mayor said, explaining that heavy machinery can’t safely be used inside the unstable trash pile.
Evangelista pushed back against earlier social media reports claiming around 50 people went missing when a massive pile of garbage collapsed on February 20 at the Green Leap Sanitary Landfill in Barangay San Isidro. The actual number of missing, he said, is three.
The mayor also clarified that the landfill is privately operated — neither the provincial nor municipal government manages it. Meanwhile, Rizal Governor Nina Ynares has called on the DENR to conduct a thorough investigation into the incident.
The tragedy highlights the dangers faced by workers in the country’s landfills, where safety standards often lag behind the scale of operations. Retrieval work continues, and the community waits anxiously for the remaining two victims to be found. Ipagdasal natin sila.
Source: The Manila Times
