2 days ago
Manila's Mayor Returns to Office to Face Mountains of Trash
Francisco Domagoso returned to office as Manila's mayor on Monday to the news that the companies that collect the city's garbage were ending their services that day, citing unpaid bills.
Weeks before, piles of garbage had started taking over the city, the Philippine capital. In some areas, roads became impassable for cars. Mountains of refuse lined crowded commercial areas, as well as the wide avenues leading to City Hall and the country's Supreme Court. Trash bags and discarded crates floated down streets flooded by the monsoon rains.
Litter is a fact of life in Manila, where grand colonial buildings are cramped by modern high-rises and dense shanty towns. But for weeks, the smell of rot has grown inescapable for nearly two million residents as uncollected waste stewed in the humid Southeast Asian weather.
'It hurts the eyes, it hurts the nose, and it hurts public health,' Mr. Domagoso said, speaking on a livestream on Monday, where he asked residents to store garbage in their homes until collection returned to normal. He declared a state of emergency in the city the next day.
The mayor himself, a former actor known as Isko Moreno, worked as a garbage collector before beginning his acting career.
In a speech to the City Council on Tuesday, Mr. Domagoso blamed the government of the previous mayor, Honey Lacuna, for leaving the city in debt to the garbage collectors.
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