MORE than a hundred yellow plastic bags filled with infectious medical waste have piled up at the storage area behind the Mandaue City Hospital (MCH) in Barangay Centro, with some left uncollected for more than a year. This alarming situation was discovered by City officials during an inspection on Wednesday, July 2, 2025.
The bulk of the waste is at the old North Bus Terminal in Barangay Subangdaku, according to Mayor Thadeo Jovito “Jonkie” Ouano.
The mayor, who inspected the hospital, expressed concern and directed an immediate follow-up with the City’s waste management team and service provider.
“This is the first time I saw for myself the medical waste that we now know has been sitting here for more than a year. What’s more alarming is that what we saw today is just a small portion,” Ouano said in Cebuano.
MCH Administrator Ligaya Lakambini Dargantes was the one who informed Ouano about the status of the waste.
This situation mirrors a recent case in Barangay Libjo, Tabogon in northern Cebu, where improperly disposed medical waste was found dumped along the roadside on June 24.
Risks
In an earlier interview, Ken Pajayat, chief of the Chemical and Hazardous Waste Section of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources–Environmental Management Bureau 7, warned that medical waste, such as blood-soaked bandages, used needles and expired medications, can contain infectious and hazardous materials.
He said prolonged storage increases the risk of contamination, exposure to healthcare workers and the potential spread of diseases.
If improperly contained, the waste can also contaminate surrounding soil and attract pests like flies and rodents, posing additional public health and environmental hazards.
Assurance
Dargantes said the infectious waste is being treated and securely packed in yellow plastic bags, the standard color code for biohazardous materials.
Disinfection is done regularly to ensure safety for both hospital personnel and nearby communities.
“We make sure the waste is disinfected before being placed in the storage area. Though it’s been stored for longer than intended, it’s not left untreated,” she said.
Dargantes clarified that the problem lies not with hospital operations but with delays in hauling by the designated service provider.
“We have a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with that hauler, so the processing is already being handled by the City Environment and Natural Resources Office (Cenro).” Dargantes said.
She refers to a MOA between the City and a new waste hauling company.
She said the agreement was finalized earlier this year, but the hauler has yet to begin operations due to pending regulatory licenses required to transport hazardous waste.
“We awarded the contract during the first quarter of the year, but the hauler is still securing specific permits. Without those, they’re not authorized to collect or transport infectious waste,” she added.
However, Dargantes did not specify which permits were lacking since this is already being handled by Cenro.
The waste has been accumulating in a temporary holding facility behind the hospital, a designated area meant only for short-term storage.
However, with the transition between service providers and the expiration of the previous contract earlier this year, the waste has continued to build up.
To avoid further congestion, some of the waste was relocated to a secondary storage site at the old North Bus Terminal by Cenro personnel.
Ouano said the proximity of the terminal to nearby residential areas has raised additional health and environmental concerns.
The mayor emphasized that resolving the issue is now a top priority for his
administration.
He assured the public that the City is expediting coordination with the hauler to facilitate immediate collection and disposal of the backlogged waste.
“We will not wait any longer. We’ll follow up directly with the service provider to confirm when they can begin removing the waste from both sites,” he said.
In the meantime, hospital staff are doing their best to mitigate risks.
Dargantes added that, barring further delays in licensing, the new waste hauler is expected to start operations next week. / CAV