BACOLOD City — The Bacolod Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP) has yet to approve Victorias City’s request to temporarily dispose of its residual waste at the city’s sanitary landfill in Barangay Felisa, with councilors awaiting a technical assessment before acting on the proposed agreement.
Councilor Homer Bais, chairperson of the SP Committee on Environment and Ecology, clarified that while the Bacolod City Solid Waste Management Board (SWMB) has endorsed the proposal, the city council has not authorized Mayor Greg Gasataya to sign the proposed Memorandum of Agreement (MOA).
“The council has only received the proposed MOA. It has not yet authorized the mayor to sign the agreement,” Bais said.
He said the proposal has been referred to the Committee on Laws while the council awaits a technical report from the Bacolod Environment and Natural Resources Office (BENRO) to determine whether the sanitary landfill has enough capacity to accommodate additional waste.
Bais stressed that the SWMB’s endorsement is merely recommendatory, adding that the city council has the final authority on whether the agreement will be approved.
Victorias City, through a letter dated November 12, 2025 from Mayor Abelardo Bantug III to Gasataya, sought to enter into an agreement with Bacolod for the disposal and management of its residual waste at the city’s sanitary landfill.
The letter said the proposed partnership would help Victorias ensure that its waste disposal activities are carried out in an environmentally sound and legally compliant manner while the city continues developing its own long-term waste management infrastructure.
“It will greatly assist our city in ensuring that waste disposal activities are conducted in an environmentally sound and legally compliant manner,” the letter stated, adding that Bacolod’s sanitary landfill is viewed as a compliant facility for the temporary arrangement.
City Legal Officer Karol Joseph Chiu confirmed that the SWMB had endorsed the request.
He said Victorias is proposing to dispose of up to 30 cubic meters of residual waste per month at the Bacolod sanitary landfill.
Chiu added that the City Legal Office issued a legal opinion stating that the proposed arrangement is allowed under Section 33 of the Local Government Code, which authorizes inter-local government cooperation, and Section 44 of Republic Act No. 9003, or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000, which encourages local government units to coordinate and share waste management facilities when necessary.
Bais noted that similar waste-sharing agreements already exist among other local government units but emphasized that Bacolod must first determine whether accepting additional waste would affect the landfill’s operations and long-term capacity.
The proposal, however, has drawn opposition from environmental advocates.
The Negrosanon Initiative for Climate and the Environment (NICE) urged the city council to carefully consider the long-term environmental, social, and economic implications of allowing another local government unit to use Bacolod’s landfill.
The group said the city should prioritize addressing its own waste management concerns before accepting waste from neighboring local government units, citing persistent complaints from residents of Barangay Felisa over foul odors and the landfill’s possible impact on public health and the environment.
NICE added that while inter-local cooperation is encouraged under the law, it should not come at the expense of the welfare of Bacolod residents or the city’s long-term environmental sustainability.
The proposal remains under review, with the agreement requiring approval by the Sangguniang Panlungsod before it can take effect./PN
