Philippines: Manila warns of health emergency over mounting rubbish

The mayor of Manila, one of the world's most densely-populated cities, is warning of a health emergency over piles of uncollected rubbish in the Philippine capital.

Newly-elected Francisco Domagoso has advised nearly two million residents to avoid taking out their rubbish until the city finds a new bin collector.

Domagoso, who assumed office on Monday, announced that Manila's two rubbish collection contractors had quit, citing millions of dollars in owed payments.

He said he hoped the new city council would declare a health emergency as early as Tuesday to address what he sees as a crisis.

"If possible, if only just for a while, please delay bringing your trash out. Keep it inside your homes until we normalise the collection of garbage in Manila," he said in a video on Facebook.

The uncollected rubbish - which he called a smelly "eyesore" - "is harmful to the elderly, to the sick and to children. Insects that fly over piles of trash can land on the food we eat," Domagoso added.

The former teen idol, also known by his screen name Isko Moreno, won the May election, promising to "Make Manila Great Again".

On Tuesday morning, he led city authorities in washing down the streets of downtown Manila with water and soap from fire trucks.

Domagoso also prioritised cleaning up the city's streets during his first three-year term as mayor that ended in 2022.

While cleaning a monument near city hall in 2019, he accidentally stepped on human excrement on the pavement, underscoring the seriousness of the task at hand.

His campaign then was considered largely successful and made him a popular national figure. He tried to parlay this into a presidential campaign in 2022 but he lost to incumbent Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

On Monday, Domagoso said two bin collection companies, PhilEco and MetroWaste, had terminated their contracts with the city, since it owes them 400 million pesos ($7m; £5m).

Leonel, a previous waste collection contractor, said Manila owed it more than 560 million pesos.

But Domagoso said Leonel has agreed to resume collecting rubbish for free after he "begged" them to do so.

"We continue bathing the streets and we won't stop until the filth is gone," Domagoso wrote in a Facebook post on Tuesday, showing photos of freshly washed roads.