Mandaue to probe hospitals involved in medical waste incident

CEBU CITY, Philippines —The Mandaue City government will also conduct its own investigation of city-based hospitals whose medical wastes were found on the seas of several coastal barangays in Lapu-Lapu City. 

In a statement sent to reporters, the city government’s public information office (PIO) said Mandaue City Mayor Gabriel Luis ‘Luigi’ Quisumbing has directed the City Environment and Natural Resources Office (Cenro) to go around hospitals to know about their waste disposal protocols. 

“Cenro has been coordinating with the hospitals in question since the incident, to find out their practice for the disposal of medical waste,” Quisumbing was quoted on the statement.

“If found to be negligent, we will not hesitate to institute sanctions. However, if their service provider has not been following DENR (Department of Environment and Natural Resources) standards, then we will work with them to correct it,” it added.

Earlier today, Wednesday (January 9), officers from the Lapu-Lapu City Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO) found several garbage bags containing medical waste floating on the seas of Barangays Ibo, Pusok, Pajo, and Poblacion.

Based on the stickers and labels found on the discarded bottles, tubes, vials, and specimen containers, they came from three, privately owned hospitals in Mandaue City. 

One of them is Chong Hua Hospital which earlier issued a statement saying they will reassess their solid waste management protocols while assuring the public that all their wastes are disposed of properly. 

The Lapu-Lapu City government has also launched its own investigation when photos of used kidney trays, rubber gloves, tubes containing blood samples, and plastic syringes washed ashore in Barangay Ibo went viral last Saturday (January 5). /rcg