Manila: Facing a mounting waste crisis, Manila’s mayor has issued an urgent call to action as garbage piles threaten public health across the city.
Francisco ‘Isko Moreno’ Domagoso, the newly elected mayor of Manila, is warning of a public health emergency as garbage piles up in the streets of the Philippine capital, one of the most densely populated cities in the world.
With two major waste collection contractors quitting over unpaid bills, Domagoso has urged nearly two million residents to temporarily stop putting out their trash until the situation stabilises.
Domagoso, who officially took office on June 30, revealed that the city’s waste contractors, PhilEco and MetroWaste, have terminated their contracts, citing over 400 million pesos (about $7 million / £5 million) in unpaid dues from the city.
Another previous contractor, Leonel, claimed Manila owes them more than 560 million pesos ($9.56 million), though Domagoso said he persuaded them to resume operations free of charge after personally pleading with them.
In a video posted to Facebook, Domagoso urged citizens, “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 Mayor described the growing waste as a smelly ‘eyesore’ that poses serious health risks, especially to children, the sick, and the elderly. Isko Moreno noted that flies and insects landing on piles of trash could contaminate food.
The mayor said that he is hoping the newly formed city council will officially declare a health emergency as early July 1st, which would allow for emergency measures to be taken.
Domagoso, widely known by his screen name Isko Moreno, was a popular teen actor before entering politics. Isko Moreno previously served as mayor from 2019 to 2022, when he prioritised street cleanliness and sanitation.
The Mayor’s cleanup campaign earned national acclaim and elevated him to a 2022 presidential bid, though he eventually lost to Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
Continuing his earlier promise to ‘Make Manila Great Again,’ Domagoso has made sanitation a top priority once again and led street-washing operations in downtown Manila using water and soap from fire trucks, documenting the effort in a Facebook post that read, “We continue bathing the streets and we won’t stop until the filth is gone.”
During his previous term in office, Domagoso once stepped on human excrement while cleaning a monument near city hall, highlighting the scale of the cleanliness challenge. His renewed efforts signal an urgent attempt to restore public health and civic pride in the capital.
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