Deepening environmental ruptures in PH

In his penultimate State of the Nation Address (Sona), President Marcos reported about his administration’s strides in addressing the scandalous flood control corruption. Fighting corruption in government is important and urgent. Yet, the present administration and previous Duterte regime have adhered to a flawed economic development blueprint which fails to place a high premium on the conservation, protection and rehabilitation of our environment and natural resources. Given our motherland’s vulnerability to climate change and other major environmental disasters, proposed policies and projects should make our country more climate-resilient and not prone to more risks. Mr. Marcos’ Sona is deeply concerning for it has surfaced the deepening environmental ruptures in our country.

Some directions mapped out in the Sona and pushed by some legislators such as proposed waste-to-energy (WtE) and nuclear power plants will only worsen existing major environmental ruptures or lead to new crises in our country. Note that that both nuclear and WtE were mentioned in the proposed Senate Bill No. 1652 which focuses on a Masterplan for Infrastructure and National Development authored by Senate President Win Gatchalian.

Many religious, environmental, and other organizations from civil society oppose these controversial proposed and ongoing policies and projects which can make the Philippines more vulnerable to the negative impacts of climate change (i.e. the problem of flooding worsened by reclamation projects) and other disasters (i.e. nuclear accidents as a result of earthquakes and tsunami).

As Green Convergence network’s statement said: “Nuclear power is not for the Philippines, being situated on the juncture of 4 tectonic plates and is thus extremely geologically active.” Seen from a climate action perspective, Aksyon Klima network and other civil society organizations (CSOs) had already stated in their position paper about the proposed National Determined Contributions that nuclear is a “false solution” that detracts from the necessary resources to accelerate renewable energy development. Further, they aired their concerns regarding the issues on nuclear (i.e., safety, waste disposal, high upfront costs) while underscoring that these issues remain largely unanswered by its proponents.

The EcoWaste Coalition (EWC) oppose moves to amend Republic Act No. 9003, also known as the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act. Mr. Marcos, some legislators, and local executives want to get this law amended in order to remove the ban on burning or incineration of municipal wastes and pave the way for the establishment of WtE plants. The EWC position paper stated that this attempt to legalize incineration undermines the very important principles of RA 9003 which was enacted to mainstream “waste reduction, segregation at source, composting, and recycling, creating a progressive hierarchy that values resource conservation. Introducing incineration creates a perverse incentive to generate more waste, as these capital-intensive facilities require a constant, high-volume feedstock of combustible materials to remain operationally and financially viable.” Furthermore, WtE plants pose severe threats to public health and local ecosystems since the burning of municipal waste releases toxic air emissions and hazardous fly ash.

Lastly, Mr. Marcos trumpeted the government agreeing to be the first artificial intelligence and advanced manufacturing hub for the Pax Silica multicountry project led by the United States through a 1,620-hectare site in New Clark City in Tarlac. The said plan has since gathered various reactions from different sectors underscoring the need for further consultation especially to communities who will be greatly impacted.

Instead of pushing for new projects, policies, and laws which will be detrimental to the environment and the marginalized communities, the present Congress should pass environment related bills that CSOs have been clamoring for decades: national land use bill, new comprehensive forest and mining bills. In addition, there is a growing number of legislators supporting the Rights of Nature bill. CSOs also renewed calls for the ratification of this Basel Convention Ban Amendment in order to prohibit the export of hazardous wastes from industrialized countries to developing countries.

In the last two years of the Marcos administration, our leaders need to demonstrate a strong political will for participatory and effective environmental governance geared toward sustainable development. In his trailblazing encyclical, “Laudato Si’: On the Care for Our Common Home,” Pope Francis reminded us that: “True statescraft is manifest when, in difficult times, we uphold high principles and think of the long term common good.”

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Patria Gwen M.L. Borcena, M.A., is an environmental sociologist and serves as the executive director of Greenresearch Environmental Research Group Inc. Jed B. Alegado conducted his Ph.D. in Environment and Resource Management Policy at The Australian National University.