Cebu City Vice Mayor Tomas Osmeña lost his temper and interrupted Councilor Joel Garganera’s privilege speech on the city’s solid waste management plan during the City Council’s regular session on Tuesday, October 13, The Freeman reported.
According to the report, Osmeña tossed a sheet of paper onto the rostrum, interrupted the councilor, and was heard uttering expletives. Garganera later called the act “unparliamentary.”
What Garganera Said
Garganera compared Cebu City’s reliance on landfills and costly garbage hauling with Hanoi, Vietnam. He cited Hanoi’s Soc Son Waste-to-Energy Plant, inaugurated in 2025, which processes 5,000 tons of garbage a day, produces 90 megawatts of electricity, and aims to cut landfill use to below 10% by 2030.
In contrast, he said:
- Cebu City spends nearly P1 billion a year on garbage hauling.
- Waste segregation is still limited, more than two decades after the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act (Republic Act 9003) was passed.
- A P5-billion waste-to-energy joint venture was withdrawn in 2022.
He also recalled the Binaliw landfill collapse that killed 36 workers and a rescuer.
“Without targets and timelines, we do not have a plan. We only have trucks, and hauling bills to pay,” Garganera said.
The 60-Day Promise
Tension rose when Garganera noted that Osmeña asked in May for 30 to 60 days to prepare a waste plan, but more than four months had passed without one reaching the council. A statement from Osmeña, shown on screen, quoted him asking for “60 days.”
Temporary Presiding Officer Philip Zafra called Osmeña to order, but the exchange escalated until Garganera’s microphone was cut off. A long recess followed.
Osmeña’s Side
When the session resumed, Osmeña said he had finished a P250-million proposal dated January 29, and claimed a newer P470-million plan was padded.
“I smell an anomaly and reputation of this council is at stake. I will defend the P250 million,” he said, adding that implementation is up to the mayor. He said both proposals excluded some required infrastructure.
The Freeman noted that Osmeña did not present the details of his proposal to the council.
Garganera’s Reply
Garganera told reporters it is “unparliamentary to interrupt a member delivering a privilege speech.” He said he never asked Osmeña to prepare a plan, and that if a proposal was submitted in January, the session was the right venue to clarify it “and not through interruption.”
Still, he shook the vice mayor’s hand before adjournment as “a sign of respect in spite of what transpired.”
A Long Feud
The two have clashed over garbage before. In 2016, Garganera filed a writ of kalikasan case against Osmeña, then mayor, to stop the reopening of the Inayawan landfill. The Supreme Court later ordered it closed.
Why It Matters
The clash came a day after Mayor Nestor Archival held the Cebu City Sustainable Waste Management Summit 2026. As officials argue over whose plan is cheaper, no waste plan has yet been formally taken up by the council, according to Garganera, while the city keeps spending nearly P1 billion a year to haul its trash.
