AT LEAST 10 plastic bags containing medical waste were found dumped along the roadside in Barangay Libjo, Tabogon in northern Cebu on Tuesday, June 24, 2025, prompting officials to launch an investigation.
Some of the items found inside the yellow plastic bags included used syringes, dialysis tubing and blood collection tubes. These allegedly originated from a medical laboratory in Bogo City, according to findings of Libjo barangay officials and the Municipal Sanitary Health Office (MSHO).
Tabogon Mayor Francis Salimbangon, in a phone interview on Wednesday, June 25, said he has ordered the Municipal Council and the town police to investigate and file charges against those responsible for dumping the waste.
“We’ll be filing charges. It’s time to strictly enforce the rules, especially when it comes to hazardous waste, as it’s becoming a big problem when people recklessly dispose of trash,” Salimbangon said in Cebuano.
The MSHO explained to Salimbangon that yellow plastic bags are designated for infectious waste and materials contaminated with such waste.
Salimbangon said the source of the medical waste has been identified but declined to name the facility, citing the ongoing investigation.
He said the medical waste has been collected and stored as evidence.
Salimbangon assured that the MSHO and Rural Health Unit assisted the personnel who handled the waste.
“They were assisted on how to handle the wastes to avoid any untoward incident,” Salimbangon said.
He said this is not the first incident of improper garbage disposal in Tabogon but the first involving medical waste.
He cited a past case involving discarded vehicle upholstery, also improperly dumped.
He added that such waste is often found in secluded areas.
Salimbangon described the medical waste incident as “very alarming” because the site is within walking distance of schools in the town.
Patrolman Chrisjohn Nerves of the Tabogon Police Station, in a separate phone interview on Wednesday, said three individuals were turned over to the station after they were seen in the area during the dumping of the waste.
According to a blotter report, the individuals were residents of Sitio Bombil in Barangay Gairan, Bogo City.
The three were later released after they proved that they were only collecting the scattered medical waste and returning it to the bags. / NECOLYN CLAIRE BALANSAG, CNU INTERN; TRIXCY SHIEN COBARDE, BENEDICTO COLLEGE INTERN; AND JEANETTE ARINQUE, HNU INTERN