DAVAO CITY, June 5 -- The Department of Environment and Natural Resources office in Davao Region (DENR-11) on Friday denied reports circulating on social media claiming that President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. ordered a halt to garbage collection in the city.

"Fake news alert. President Marcos Jr. did not order a halt to garbage collection in Davao City," the agency said in an online post Friday.

Mayor Sebastian Duterte earlier explained that the delaay in garbage collection stemmed from the closure of the city's New Carmen Sanitary Landfill, which DENR ordered under the leadership of Secretary Juan Miguel Cuna.

"The longer this situation continues, the greater the risk of a public health and sanitation problem, not because of the waste...