SOUTHEASTERN COLLEGE

College Road, Taft Avenue, Pasay City

Basic Education Unit

Persuasive Essay: The Infamous and

Catastrophic Payatas Land and Trash
Slide Tragedy
ENTITLED: “ The ‘Promised Land’ with false hope and broken promises”

Passed by Group 7:

Abiera, Antonette V.

Laxa, Ethan Lester D.

 SOUTHEASTERN COLLEGE
College Road, Taft Avenue, Pasay City
Basic Education Unit

“The ‘Promised Land’ with false hope and broken promises”

Imagine a beautiful palace being given to you and others. It is on a vast landscape and
is called the "Promised Land." You were at your lowest point and felt like it was heaven and
the forgiving fate that brought you there to refresh, think, and continue with the new life
opportunities ahead of you as you happily rest in the palace that has granted you shelter and
warmth. But then, destruction and havoc struck! Every foundation of the palace crumbled
down as it was set on flames. You are one of the lucky ones and the few to live, because the
others who were as optimistic as you when you found your new "home" burned down and were
buried with it. Now, standing and watching as the event occurs, you burst down as the place
that was supposed to be your source of hope became your life's biggest tragedy.

Believe it or not, this event actually happened in the Philippines. Twenty-three years
ago, on July 10, 2000, one of the saddest man-made tragedies struck Quezon City, Payatas,
especially the land ironically called "Lupang Pangako." This site was initially planned to foster
thousands of informal settlers with the initiative of Quezon City's government. It was happy
and normal at first, as all the informal settlers were grateful for their new home and started
their new lives in the Promised Land. One day, many fostered citizens were shocked as the site
beside them started to become a landfill where companies would dump their waste. It was
never explained why Payatas became a landfill, but based on the informal settler's rumors, they
said that Quezon City's government and multiple companies had a feud that resulted in Payatas
becoming a trash dumping site despite its numerous hazards to the people living near or beside
it. Many informal settlers said nothing about the situation, and some complained to the
government, but no replies were given to the confused individuals who just wanted nothing but
the truth. Months after months, Payatas became a wasteland; it has an estimated 2.46 million
cubic meters and gains 1,470 tons of more trash every day. Then it happened, July 10th, a date
always carved in the minds of the people living in Lupang Pangako. The Payatas landfill
accumulated so much waste and trash, causing the landfill to erode and collapse in the district,
causing almost 300 fatalities. Only 200 bodies were found when they searched through the pile
of trash and rocks that covered the entire landscape, and 700 families were rendered homeless
 SOUTHEASTERN COLLEGE
College Road, Taft Avenue, Pasay City
Basic Education Unit

by the man-made disaster. Lupang Pangako was once a promised land to foster and take care of
the informal settlers, and now it is only remembered as the place that killed and destroyed the
lives of many.

The government played a major part in this artificial disaster. Even if they could've
done something to prevent this tragedy, it is irreversible. None of their apologies and guilt
would bring back any people buried in the dumpsite, it's better to look forward to more actions
in order to avoid any more devastating tragedies or prevent them. The government has already
tried to relocate the informal settlers to a different place, Montalban. But the idea was rejected,
and they were brought back to Payatas since life in Montalban is a lot more miserable than in
Payatas. There were no schools at the new relocation site, making it inconvenient for the
children, as if their lives were easy enough. The government should attempt to find another
relocation site since there are a lot of existing hazards in living near landfills, including not
only the risk of eroding again but also the risk of diseases since they are near tons of decaying
materials. One suggestion we could give out is to disperse the families and people to pre-
existing relocation sites which the Philippines already have. Such as in Katuparan Village,
Norzagaray Heights, Bulacan; Sta. Maria Homes, Rizal; Padre Pio, et al. Dispersing families
into these pre-existing relocation sites would avoid over-crowding and shelter the people
formerly living in “Lupang Pangako.” The Payatas landfill was also attempted to close out in
the same year, 2000, by President Joseph Estrada but weeks after was reopened again with the
appeal of Mayor Ismael Mathay Jr. to prevent the risk of acquiring viruses, a bad and lingering
odor, and more infestations. They should instead promote a safety zone, preferably 5
kilometers, in order to mitigate the hazards and hopefully be far enough from the site once
another disaster from the site occurs. Another suggestion is to create a more segregated trash
management plan and establish composting centers in order to dispose of trash properly, but
according to the news, it is already being accumulated by the government today in different
parts of the country like in Metro Manila with the “Metro Manila Solid Waste Management
Project”, but one thing missing is consistency. Every part of the Philippines should establish a
strict waste management plan and it should be implemented and started by the government.
 SOUTHEASTERN COLLEGE
College Road, Taft Avenue, Pasay City
Basic Education Unit

Earlier, we'd mentioned that it was rumored, according to the news and “Lupang
Pangako’s former residents”, that the government and companies had a feud, which was why
the Payatas became a landfill. Companies, which generate a lot of waste, are also one of the
factors in this tragedy. The Philippines produces an estimate of at least 61, 000 million metric
tons of waste every day, with most of it being plastic waste. According to our research, the
leading producers of waste in the Philippines are, but are not limited to: Coca-Cola
Corporation, Nestle, Universal Robina, and Unilever. All of these corporations are known for
their one-use plastic packaging: plastic Coca-Cola or any soda bottles, plastic junk food
containers, and multiple sachets of shampoo and conditioner. These leading companies should,
overall, promote sustainability and use their platforms and popularity in order to share it with
the country or worldwide. Shampoo and conditioner companies like Unilever could create
reusable packaging and establish refilling centers to reduce the excessive use of sachets. Soda
companies like Coca-Cola Corporation could also use this method, they already have reusable
glass variations in their packaging, and they could create refilling stations in order to reuse the
bottles that were sold. Junk food and chip companies like Universal Robina, however, could
make sustainable packaging using compostable materials like paper. There are evident
improvisations from different foreign companies that use these packaging in order to have a
lesser negative impact on the environment.

The use of plastics in our daily lives has helped a lot of people since plastic is durable,
convenient, cheap, and has a lot of uses. But as the use of plastic grew day by day, we could
see its prominent effects on the planet we consider our home. The Payatas tragedy isn't only
limited to the people affected; we can also relate it to our environment and see that this country
has poor waste management. Now, enough about the government and companies. I am right
here talking to all of you. The trash in the Payatas landfill reeked of destruction and soil
contamination, these wastes flowing through our rivers and oceans endangered marine life, and
the smell of the polluted air penetrating through our noses from improper waste disposal or
burning. It all starts within us: it is our excessive use of plastic, it is our carelessness and
improper trash disposal, and it is our choice to not help this planet Earth but rather slowly
destroy it. Everyone contributed to these negative effects on our environment. That is why I am
 SOUTHEASTERN COLLEGE
College Road, Taft Avenue, Pasay City
Basic Education Unit

in front of you today. I want you to open your eyes, I want you to reflect and look through your
surroundings, and ask yourself, "Is this what you dreamed of what our home would be?" "Is
this the same as the planet we've once walked before?" "Is this what we will leave for the
following generations as our past mistakes in not preserving the planet?" And I know your
answer would be no, but what are we doing to prevent this from happening? When are we
going to take action and help each other to benefit the earth? When? When our future children
won't know what a lion is because they are extinct? When we can no longer stay outside for too
long because the sunlight will burn our skin? When the glaciers on the poles already melted
and we are already drowning? When life can no longer thrive on Earth and people start to fade
one by one? When it's already too late? That's when you are going to take action?

Before it's too late, and yes, I am talking to you. Let us work together and promote a
better tomorrow for all of us. Don’t wait longer if we can already make a difference right now.
Don't let this world be like the devastating tragedy in Payatas. Don't wait to see that our
paradise is burning down, and we are going down and will be buried with it. May we look
through the situation with a silver lining and make this "promised land", this planet this time, a
promised hope to foster more children in the next generation and be what “Lupang Pangako”
failed to do.
 SOUTHEASTERN COLLEGE
College Road, Taft Avenue, Pasay City
Basic Education Unit

REFERENCES USED:

Bebot Sison Jr., C. S. F. (n.d.). Payatas tragedy: One year after. Philstar.com.
https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2001/07/10/91819/payatas-tragedy-one-year-after

BusinessMirror. (2022, September 19). Relocation of informal settlers: An ongoing task:

Business Mirror. https://businessmirror.com.ph/2022/09/19/relocation-of-informal-settlers-
outside-manila/#:~:text=The%20relocation%20sites%20are%20in,Caboco%2C%20Trece
%20Martires%2C%20Cavite

“promised land” garbage landslide kills at least 200 in the Philippines. World Socialist Web
Site. (n.d.). https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2000/07/phil-j21.html

The face of plastic | news | Ateneo de Manila University. (n.d.).

https://www.ateneo.edu/news/2022/07/18/face-plastic