Joel Garganera, a Cebu City council member, described the height from which the trash fell as “alarming”, estimating the top of the pile had stood 20 storeys above the area struck.
Images released by police showed a massive mound of trash atop a hill directly behind buildings that officials told AFP contained administrative offices and housing for employees.
In an interview with local media, Cebu Mayor Nestor Archival pointed to a recent earthquake and typhoon-driven rains as potential precipitating circumstances.
But Garganera said the mountain of garbage had been an obvious danger.
“Every now and then, when it rains, there are landslides happening around the city,” with “a landfill or a mountain that is made of garbage” posing a particular danger, Garganera said.
“The garbage is like a sponge, it really absorbs water. It doesn’t (take) a rocket scientist to say that eventually, the incident will happen.”
He said the disaster was a “double whammy” for the city, noting that the facility was the lone service provider for Cebu and adjacent communities.
According to the website of operator Prime Integrated Waste Solutions, the landfill processed 1,000 tons of municipal solid waste daily.
Calls to the company went unanswered on Sunday.
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