Payatas landslide
{{Short description|2000 landfill collapse in Quezon City, Philippines}}
{{use mdy|date=October 2024}}
{{Infobox event
| title = Payatas landslide
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| date = {{start date|2000|07|10}}
| venue = Payatas dumpsite
| location = Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines
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| type = Landslide
| theme =
| cause = Slope of accumulated garbage
| outcome = Ban of open ground dumpsites in the Philippines; closure of the Payatas dumpsite in 2010
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| reported deaths = 218
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The Payatas landslide was a garbage dump collapse at Payatas, Quezon City, Philippines, on July 10, 2000. A large pile of garbage first collapsed and then went up in flames which resulted in the destruction of about 100 houses.{{cite news |title=31 Filipinos Killed in Garbage Dump Collapse |url=https://abcnews.go.com/International/story |access-date=17 October 2024 |work=ABC News |date=10 July 2000}}
Background
The residents near the Payatas dumpsite, specifically Lupang Pangako were moved to the area from other parts of Quezon City in the 1990s under then mayor Brigido Simon. Parts of Lupang Pangako then would be used for the dump, a "mountain of garbage" eventually piled up near the relocation site.{{cite news |title=Mathay admin liable for Payatas landslide |url=https://www.philstar.com/nation/2020/01/17/1985471/mathay-admin-liable-payatas-landslide |access-date=17 October 2024 |work=The Philippine Star |date=17 January 2020}}
Poor people often scavenge the Payatas dumpsite as a means of livelihood. Some of the garbage dumped on the site often combust spontaneously.
Landslide
218 people were killed, according to official data, and caused 300 missing persons. Other sources, however, suggest that 705 people were killed in PayatasWestfall, 2001{{full citation needed|date=January 2024}} and many first-hand accounts note the number is far greater than the official figure, perhaps closer to 1,000.{{cite book|last=(Habitat)|first=United Nations Centre for Human Settlements|title=Cities in a globalizing world |year=2001 |publisher=Earthscan |location=London [u.a.] |isbn=1853838063 |page=xxvi |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Kk8f9E-Hcj0C&dq=payatas&pg=PR26 |edition=1. publ. in the UK and USA.}}
The dumping ground was immediately closed following the incident by then President Joseph Estrada.{{cite news |title=Manila dump survivors sue for $20m |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/861265.stm |access-date=17 October 2024 |work=BBC News |agency=BBC Asia-Pacific |date=1 August 2000}}
Aftermath
The dumpsite was reopened weeks later by then-Quezon City Mayor Ismael Mathay Jr. to avert an epidemic in the city due to uncollected garbage caused by the closure.{{cite news |last1=Sison |first1=Bebor Jr. |last2=Felipe |first2=Cecilia Suerte |title=Payatas tragedy: One year after |url=https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2001/07/10/91819/payatas-tragedy-one-year-after |accessdate=23 September 2019 |work=The Philippine Star |date=10 July 2001}}
The landslide prompted the passage of Republic Act No. 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000,{{cite news |last1=Peña |first1=Rox |title=Payatas landfill is permanently closed |url=https://www.sunstar.com.ph/article/160425 |accessdate=23 September 2019 |work=Sun Star |date=24 August 2017}} which mandates the closure of open dumpsites in the Philippines by 2004 and controlled dumpsites by 2006.{{cite news |last1=Roxas |first1=Pathricia Ann |title=Environmentalists hail closure of Payatas dumpsite |url=https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/920737/environmentalists-hail-closure-of-payatas-dumpsite |accessdate=23 September 2019 |newspaper=Philippine Daily Inquirer |date=August 6, 2017}}
In 2004, the Payatas dumpsite was reconfigured as a controlled disposal facility but was closed in December 2010.{{cite web |title=Quezon City Local Government - Background (Domestic Solid Waste) |url=https://www.quezoncity.gov.ph/index.php/about-the-city-government/background |website=Quezon City Official Website |publisher=Quezon City Government |accessdate=23 September 2019}} A separate dumpsite was established near the old open dumpsite{{cite news |last1=Ranada |first1=Pia |title=Time ticking for Payatas landfill |url=https://www.rappler.com/nation/52307-payatas-landfill-end-contract |accessdate=23 September 2019 |work=Rappler |date=6 March 2014}} in January 2011. The newer dumpsite closed in December 2017.
The Quezon City local government was found legally liable to compensate 56 heirs of the victims in 2020. They are obliged to dispense a total of {{Philippine peso|6 million}}.{{cite news |last1=Cabico |first1=Gaea Katreena |title=After nearly 20 years, court finds Quezon City liable for Payatas tragedy |url=https://www.philstar.com/nation/2020/01/16/1985298/after-nearly-20-years-court-finds-quezon-city-liable-payatas-tragedy |access-date=17 October 2024 |work=The Philippine Star |date=16 January 2020}}{{cite news |last1=Ramos |first1=Mariejo |title=QC gov’t found liable for Payatas ‘trash-slide’ |url=https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1214288/qc-govt-found-liable-for-payatas-trash-slide |access-date=17 October 2024 |work=Philippine Daily Inquirer |date=17 January 2020 |language=en}} Mayor Joy Belmonte said her administration would not appeal the court ruling but noted that her former mayor Mathay could not be held liable since he died in 2013.
See also
- Bangkang papel boys, survivors of the tragedy, who attempted to gain the attention of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0872869.html Quezon City disaster in July, 2000]
- {{cite web |title=Republic Act No. 9003 {{!}} GOVPH |url=https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/2001/01/26/republic-act-no-9003-s-2001/ |website=Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines |access-date=22 March 2023 |date=26 January 2001}}
{{coord missing|Philippines}}
Category:2000 disasters in the Philippines
Category:History of Quezon City
Category:July 2000 in the Philippines
Category:Landslides in the Philippines
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