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This was not an accident. It was capital functioning exactly as designed.
The collapse happened on paper long before it happened on site
The landfill in Cebu did not collapse overnight.
It had already been declared structurally unsafe multiple times in official documents.
The facility was operated by Prime Integrated Waste Solutions (PIWS), a private waste management company owned by Filipino billionaire Enrique Razon Jr.
Last year, the company reported ₱55 billion in revenue (approximately $926 million) and ₱18.5 billion in net profit (approximately $312 million).
Yet beneath those profits, the landfill:
- Exceeded the legal height limit of 35 meters
- Had inadequate drainage systems
- Received repeated warnings of collapse risk
And still, nothing changed.
The reason is simple.
Safety was classified as a cost, and costs were marked for removal.
This industry is not about “processing.” It is about “erasure.”
Waste management is not a cleaning service.
It is an industry designed to make what cities do not want to see disappear.
After the collapse, authorities did not first express concern for workers’ lives.
The immediate concern was this:
“A garbage crisis is feared.”
To keep the city functioning,
garbage had to continue disappearing somewhere.
In this industry, what matters is not:
- Safety ❌
- Human life ❌
- Sustainability ❌
There is only one question.
“Was it removed from sight?”
Humans are a cost item in this system
The workers at the landfill were neither skilled specialists nor protected labor.
They were buried under:
- Mountains of garbage
- Twisted steel beams
- Collapsed structures
They died beneath them.
They all shared one characteristic.
They were replaceable.
Which makes the calculation brutally simple.
Probability of death × compensation cost < cost of safety infrastructure
→ Remove safety infrastructure
At that moment, human LTV (Lifetime Value) is reset to zero.
Corporations take the profits, the state disperses the responsibility
The post-disaster scene is familiar.
- The company: “We followed regulations.”
- Local government: “Approval authority lies with the central government.”
- Central government: “An investigation is underway.”
- Fire department and city officials: “We are doing everything we can.”
Everyone appears to be in motion.
Yet no one takes responsibility.
The state:
- Refuses to acknowledge regulatory failure
- Emphasizes rainfall, terrain, and natural conditions
- Constructs the image of an “unavoidable disaster”
What remains is only this.
A catastrophe without accountability, and a system that keeps its profits.
This is not just a Philippine problem
This structure is not a local anomaly.
- Philippines: landfill collapse
- Bangladesh: garment factory collapse
- India: mining accidents
- Latin America: dam failures
The formula is always the same.
- Private outsourcing
- Cost-cutting competition
- Weak regulation
- Disaster
- Responsibility evaporates
- Normal operations resume
Only the people change. The system remains.
Everything we buy cheaply ends with someone’s body
In Cebu, pressure on waste disposal intensified ahead of the massive Sinulog Festival.
Behind the spectacle of consumption, celebration, and urban vitality,
garbage was stacked higher and faster.
And beneath it, people died.
- Cheap waste disposal fees
- Cheap electricity
- Cheap delivery
- Cheap consumer goods
Low prices mean one thing.
Some cost was removed somewhere.
And the first things to be removed are always:
Safety and human life.
Insight Verdict
This was not an accident.
When capital classifies human life as a cost item,
this outcome is not a failure—it is normal operation.
3 line summary
The landfill collapsed because safety was documented as a risk—and deleted as a cost.
Waste management is not processing; it is erasure, where human lives are priced at zero.
When capital treats people as cost items, catastrophe is not failure—it is normal operation.
Reference
- 36 workers killed in huge landfill collapse in the Philippines – World Socialist Web Site
- Last missing landfill collapse victim found | Philstar.com
- Philippine city ends recovery work after deadly landfill collapse kills 36 – AOL
- Death toll rises to 35 in Philippine dumpsite collapse – Big News Network
- Death toll rises to 35 in Philippine dumpsite collapse – Xinhua
This article is based on publicly available reporting from international news outlets. Analysis and interpretation were produced by Infowider’s editorial framework. No claims have been added beyond what is supported by the cited sources.
