Inayawan Upclose

Last week, I asked my officemate Cel, who currently lives in Inayawan, if she could take me to the landfill so that I could take a few photos. She reasoned that although she is a resident of Inayawan, she has never been there and that she doesn’t know anyone who could actually take us inside. I thought that my last chance of ever seeing the place was lost.







When I learned this morning that my parents were going to Carcar to visit the manghihilot, I grabbed the opportunity and told them that I’d go to Carcar with them if and only if we check out the landfill first. As they too were interested and curious, they agreed. LOL.

We reached E. Jaca Street in Inayawan at around 8 in the morning. It was still very early but the road which lead to the main dump site was already bustling with different activities. Scrap shops were already open and people of all ages  carrying heavy sacks of random stuff were already scurrying to sell their ‘finds’. As we drew closer to the main gate, despite my nasal congestion, the smell of garbage became more and more biting. Just outside the compound, there were burning mounds, broken bottles in the gutter, and rotting vegetables and fruits near black and sticky puddles.

We parked our bikes near the main gate as we looked around for anyone who could answer a few questions. A young man who came out of the ‘guard house’ walked to us and asked what we wanted. I told him that I wanted to go up and take a couple of pictures of the site. He said that we needed to secure a permit. And since it was a Sunday, there was no one who could sign one for us. Although we were a bit disappointed, we didn’t push the issue, and just thanked him for answering our questions. When we were about to leave, the same guy came towards us and told us that he could take us to the top to take a few photos if it would take less than thirty minutes. I promised that I would only take a couple of snaps and that we would be done in less than ten minutes.

WARNING: If you can’t take the sight of garbage, please stop don’t go any further.

The landfill in White Road, Inayawan, Cebu City.

Inayawan Landfill by you.

While waiting outside the gate, I noticed more than 4 garbage trucks from Baranggay Guadalupe enter the site. Cebu’s biggest baranggay certainly also produces lots of garbage.

Inayawan Landfill by you.

These machines are used to prevent the garbage from piling up.

Inayawan Landfill by you.

More machines in the compound. The one ‘hiding’ in the trees is probably out of order. Hehe.

Inayawan Landfill by you.

According to our guide Nelson, this section (after the lamp post) is where waste materials from Cebu’s hospitals are dumped. Kinda scary.

Inayawan Landfill by you.

Garbage near the main gate. According to our guide, this was the place where one of the four fetuses was found. So sad.

Inayawan Landfill by you.

From the looks of it, these items are still quite ‘fresh’.

Inayawan Landfill by you.

My guesstimate, these were dumped just this week.

Inayawan Landfill by you.

A ‘scavenger’ in action. Accordng to Nelson, the common items that they collect are glass bottles, plastic bottles, metal, paper, and plastic.

Inayawan Landfill by you.

Soil is placed on top of the garbage to keep the smell bearable.

Inayawan Landfill by you.

Nelson wasn’t so sure that but he said that the size of the whole property is 88 hectares.

Inayawan Landfill by you.

A young guys on his way to work.

Inayawan Landfill by you.

Not real grapes. Hehehe.

Inayawan Landfill by you.

After the Guadalupe garbage truck left, this group started working.

Inayawan Landfill by you.

Indeed, there is money in garbage. Nelson shared that some of these ‘scavengers’ were lucky enough to find jewelry, cellular phones, and even un-used garments.

Inayawan Landfill by you.

I wonder what he got in that bag.

Inayawan Landfill by you.

That guy on the left is probably on his way to the junk shop.

Inayawan Landfill by you.

View of the site and the mountains of Metro Cebu.

Inayawan Landfill by you.

Dumpsite and the hills of Pardo.

Inayawan Landfill by you.

Wow. I can see a yellow ball, a Lucky Me pack, a Jolliburger wrapper, a celfone chager, puso wrapper, plastic plate, bottle, and bottle caps.

Inayawan Landfill by you.

A young kid going to work.

Inayawan Landfill by you.

Waiting for the arrival of the T. Padilla garbage truck.

Inayawan Landfill by you.

‘Scavengers’ busy looking for ‘anything’ that can be sold. According to Nelson, he knew that young guy who found millions of cash inside a garbage bag. The cash was returned to the owner, he said.

Inayawan Landfill by you.

Houses just below the dump site.

Inayawan Landfill by you.

The small body of water which separates SRP from the mainland.

Inayawan Landfill by you.

View of Metro Cebu.

Inayawan Landfill by you.

Cebu’s skyline.

Inayawan Landfill by you.

The dumpsite and SRP’s very first locator – Bigfoot Studios.

Inayawan Landfill by you.






Our very nice tour guide – Nelson. Thank you very much, sir!

Inayawan Landfill by you.

56 thoughts on “Inayawan Upclose

      1. Unless the Cebu LGUs do the same for what the Dumaguete LGU did, the nonbiodegradables won’t be recycled. They’ll just leave it there.

        History lang: When I was still working with Ayala Center Cebu, we paid a visit to Dumaguete. Their mayor showed us his pet project…converting a dumpsite (not landfill ha) into a park.

        They gave allowances to the urban poor/squatters to segregate the plastics from the biodegradables. The remaining garbage was covered with mulch/dirt and planted with grass and plants. We, at ACC, even donated 100 palm trees to line up the park.

        I think the plastics were sent to a recycling facility.

        If only the Cebu City LGUs would have this kind of foresight/project…

    1. mura g. but it really is a landfill. according to our guide, refuse is buried between layers of dirt. so landfill gihapon.

      i also heard rumors that the property had been purchased by a private american company and that development will start as soon as the desired outcome is reached. i guess they’re waiting for the complete reclamation of the property (which is also one of the goals of the landfill method).

      pero mura gyud ug open dump lagi kay naay areas nga wala naapil ug tabon ug balas. hehe

      1. Mao gyud, Ley. Ang proper gyud na landfill is carefully designed and has facilities to process the garbage.

        As far as I know, mao ni ang involved sa landfill:

        1. The area is excavated to a desired depth.
        2. Pipes and other equipment is laid on the excavation to extract the dirty sludge that seeps through. The sludge goes to a treatment facility to eliminate its toxicity.
        3. Before placing the garbage in a landfill, the garbage is segregated…metals, glass, plastics, etc. are separated for recycling. Ang nahabilin are biodegradable stuff. In proper landfills, naa may segregation facility duol sa area.
        3. The garbage is compacted, and once the layer is full, it is covered with some kind of plastic sheet. Then the sheet in turn is covered with mulch (ground bed stuffing) or lime.
        4. A facility processes the methane gas that is released from the landfill and turns it into electric power.
        5. Once the landfill reaches its maximum capacity, the top layer is covered with soil and planted with grass and trees.

        Sus, pagkahugaw gyud sa Inayawan na landfill oi.

  1. Overall a sad situation for the people and the environment. All those non-biodegradeable materials. Hoping for a change in environmental consciousness.

  2. sir ley ang facade pana xa inyong nakita….mas makaloluoy jud ang scene if mosout pamo…..grabe ang mga bata makita nimo na walay mga sinina and worst lain ang kaonon…..basta luoy jud…

  3. i grew up near this place but have never seen the landfill! hala uy! di man ni landfill basurahan ra man ni nga dako! apil pa bio hazard waste!?! and mamunit pa gyud ang mga taw ug basura, sus mariya…

    i hope naay mahimo ani, dili biya tawn safe magpuyo duol sa basura na biya nay mga chemicals ibutang for the landfill.

  4. mau gani na hanay2 na sa una hastang ng bukid2 jud… den daghan pa kau ang mga scavengers ambot ngano krn n gamay na?! bcn nangatipok na…:(

  5. naka anha na jud ko diha ley… baso jud kaayo siya diha… samot na mo lakaw ka padulong atong dako nga murag bodega nya sa kilid ato.. kay mura swimming pool…. tana jud me ato.. kung unsa na… nya me ana to ang ng manage kay ang duga sa basura……

    me grabi naman ang basura oi…. before pag anha namo sa among research about landfill dili paman to ka igon ana oi.. nya daghan na sad tawo….

  6. Its official na…. this is the most honest post about Cebu. As much as i hate to see it but this is reality. Indeed, a very strong post. Thanks Ley.

      1. Ako man ang nagbuhat sa PP proposal nila for Tommy Osmena sa una. Weird kaayo ang proposal sa Bigfoot owner coz he wants the facility to be near Pond A, facing the mountains aron naa kunoy “water and mountain views.” Unya ang ilang plan is naay esplanade unya naa kuno mag kayaking sa Pond A.

        But the manager whom I talked to sige ug lingo-lingo sa ulo kay ang esplanade mag atubang sa landfill.

        1. mao bitaw, G. weird pud kaayo. when i went there, makita gyud nga bantang kaayo ang ilang area sa landfill. manimaho gyud daw kung hangin2x or kung naay bag-ong tagak. lol. grabe baya kaayo to ilang rendering ug scale models sa ilang plans diha. nindot kaayo. magatubang lang gyud sa landfill. hehe

          1. Maybe most of the movies produced by Bigfoot will have the landfill as its main shooting location. Bwahihihihi!

  7. lan, nice… sa amo place makita n ang lanfill ky naa bya mi buid pardo puyo pro ala q nka imagine nga ingon ani diay n xa sa actual…grabe jud ang basura…maluoy q sa ng puyo diri dapita…nice job!

  8. Hey! bro that’s the worst problem here in our country, “basura”, btw want to make it clear… di yan landfill tawag.. dumpsite sya… according to environmentalist or environmental engineers, when we speak of landfill, must have a liner ang tinatambakan ng basura… the common term for that daw sabi nila is dumpsite (either open or controlled)… Thanks for these blog…

  9. Ay, kahibaw ka sa gobyerno, ngalan ray ga dako.

    Take for example the Transcentral Highway. Ingon sila “Engineering Marvel” kuno. Then sige lang ka landslide. Tsk! Tsk!

  10. thanks ley,

    i hope that the city officials are also fans of ur website…..gosh, they are boasting about the “excess” money that the city has…..and then you see all of these!!!????

    reality check for them please!!!

  11. Personally, the best way to avoid having the nightmare above is public education. The public should be taught of the three Rs (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) to lessen the accumulation of garbage.

    Unfortunately, convenience in the modern world has taught people to be lazy.

  12. I left Cebu 10 yrs. ago and came back 2 months ago for a visit..i didn’t see any improvements at all, sorry. i wasn’t that totally impressed with SRP. Most jeepney and taxi drivers don’t practice safe driving either. It was very chaotic. Not to mention most cab drivers were rude. We hailed a cab from SM and told him our destination, he asked us “pila hatag nimo ma’am? kas man gud gas ma’am, layo” i told him if he’s worried about his fuel, he should just carry his cab on top of his head, that way he’ll save gas, and i slammed the door.

    We rented a fully furnished place while staying there for 2 months. We were asked to pay P35 weekly for garbage disposal. A garbage truck was supposed to come once a week and pick up the garbage. But they never came till the 3rd week we stayed there. Our neighbors were just dumping their garbage…guess where? in the river. no wonder the river by where we stayed was all dried up. one day i saw a kid carrying a sack full of garbage, asked him where was he gonna dump it, he just calmly answered, ” sa sapa ate”.

    1. @mary

      i know what your talking about its sad but true! i feel for you…. i left pinas since i was a child and grew up in the US, there was a time that i did not go back to cebu for 15yrs after college then year 2003 i went back to cebu surprisingly everything changed! i was lost in downtown/colon….

      i guess pinoy habit will take time to changed!

  13. We have something like this in Dumaguete too! A portion of the area has been turned into a park and an aviary, a very good idea in my opinion. The still is still there , though, and still overpowering.

  14. Usa ko sa nag puyo diha sa inayawan, ang gusto nako nga ang official sa baranggay kay mag mugna ug workshop para sa mga out of school youth, or free school for those youth nga sukad-sukad wala pa maka tung-tung sa pag skwela.

    kinahanglan pud nga strictly emplement gyud na,

    salamat………

  15. daghan mag ingon nako nga taga inayawan diay ka? i answered”yes”, i ask them “nganu man? they reply “hugaw mana diha” so i ask them” so inyo gi discriminate mi nga nag puyo diha sa inayawan? they answered “yes”.

    so please all the official of inayawan pag furom namo kay gi buhat gyud ug hugaw ang atong baranggay hugaw kayo ang atong image ani…..

    daghang salamat………..

  16. has anyone heard of the word “recycle”

    hello cebu officials? “can you hear”? “can you hear me now”?

    i guess my signal is fading, no area coverage….. oppps, lost my signal

  17. theres just garbage everywhere. not only garbage but sewage/drainage problem. there’s just lack of education when it comes to cleanliness.

  18. i can’t imagine how the residents surrounding this garbage DUMPSITE live . they should be the first one to complain and take up this issue with the local govt…mayor tommy osmena is so focused on marketing SRP without any concern for his constituents….instead of using whatever energy he has left in selling SRP , he should clean up the inayawan area first…how can he make SRP attractive to the investors if the foul smell coming from inayawan dumpsite exist……media should give attention to this also…..one way of pressuring mayor tommy osmena….now you know fellow cebuanos whom you SHOULD NOT vote in future local elections……..

  19. WOW, what an eye-opener! Thanks Ley for posting.

    It’s a disgusting site but we all need to know what’s going in our own backyard. I really wonder why our elected politicians be it Provincial or City, didn’t do anything to properly manage this “dumpsite”, “landfill”, or whatever they call it. We know that our officials are educated and have visited better places around the world, so for sure, they have the knowledge of what’s the better thing to do.

    Hahay, as per usual, ang ilang kaugalingon ra ang gi-atiman ug dili ang kaayohan sa atong Sugbo ug sa mga Sugbuanon.

    @Gian, pwede molansar na lang ka karong umaabot na election? Musta na???

    🙂

  20. this place actually got potential. it has a nice view of the skyline of cebu and its near the water. where i live in seattle washington. we have genesse park near my house which used to be a landfill or dumpsite also. after they cover the garbage. and spend money on the infastructure it has turned out to be one of the most beautiful park in seattle area. now its surrounded by million dollar homes. i hope the cebu officals will do a good job on turning this place into something where the residents could be proud of. and not made the same mistake as they did in pasil the place where i grew up.

  21. Inayawan dump is a ticking time bomb. A disaster waiting to happen. Anytime this dumpsite will explode or catches fire. On top of being an EXPLOSION HAZARD, it is also an ASPHYXIATION HAZARD. Our city officials knew of the presence of gas in landfill such as methane, ammonia and hydrogen sulfide and these gases pose explosion, fire and asphyxiation hazards to the community living near Inayawan dumps. But we continue to give little attention to it.

    When will we ever learn.

  22. totoo talagang napaka dumi pala ng white road no. pero marame n man tayong magagawa lalong lalo na yng mga kabataan. yong pamahalan din na man

  23. i was planning to have the garbage converting to methane gas advertisement on our advertising class but after i saw the photos I am totally disappointed and confused…..

  24. Hi ley!

    Can I use some of your pictures? I’m doing a solid waste management in Cebu City for my university research.

  25. gitawag na ug landfill kay dagat na sa una then gibutangan ug mga basura, more than 70 hectares na ang na reclaim gikan sa dagat before nahimo ang SRP. Sa naa na ang SRP na in between na na sa SRP ug original nga yuta.

  26. bai i was the great grandson of the name f.jaca st.inayawan pardo cebu city,this is not an open dump site,for the record the city government ask a resolution to further extend the contract kay asa man nila ilabay ang mga basura sa tibook syudad,its so pity seeing once a very greener areas are now used for landfill or dumpsite,be it or watever im proud called to be a native inayawnons n a great clans of jacas,be proud kung taga inayawan gud ka bai.

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