Green Groups to Marcos Jr.: “Your Inaction Is a Crime Against the Filipino People”

Wazzup Pilipinas!?

Environmental Advocates Deliver Urgent Plea Ahead of SONA: Make Climate and Environmental Justice a National Priority

QUEZON CITY, Philippines – July 24, 2025.

As torrential rains once again turn streets into rivers and homes into ruins, civil society organizations are rising from the wreckage not just to rebuild—but to demand. With a unified voice, they called on President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. to uphold what is fast becoming the most violated human right in the Philippines: the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment.

Just days before his much-anticipated fourth State of the Nation Address (SONA), green groups led by the EcoWaste Coalition presented a stinging indictment—not just of inaction, but of complicity. They denounced the government’s sluggish response to the triple planetary crisis: climate change, environmental pollution, and biodiversity collapse.

Their call to action is more than emotional—it’s now backed by legal precedent. On July 23, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) released a historic advisory opinion, recognizing environmental protection and climate action as legal obligations of states. Failure to act, the Court said, could trigger liability—damages, reparations, and restitution. The Philippines, a climate-vulnerable nation, now stands at a dangerous crossroads.

“Tariffs and Trade Can Wait—Lives Cannot”

Atty. Gregorio Rafael Bueta, Legal Counsel of EcoWaste, delivered a chilling reminder:

“The monsoon rains which have again caused hardship to millions in the Philippines is further evidence that climate change needs action now. More than tariffs, trade, and politics, President Marcos must reassure the Filipino people of the government’s firm commitment to climate action.”

In a storm-lashed country where flash floods are now seasonal and landslides routine, inaction is no longer ignorance—it is injustice.

Nature-Based Solutions: The Forgotten Lifeline

Groups like the Interfacing Development Interventions for Sustainability (IDIS) aren’t just critiquing policy—they’re offering solutions. Atty. Mark Peñalver, Executive Director of IDIS and VP of EcoWaste, urged the government to invest in nature itself.

“We must prioritize wetlands, forests, rivers, and watersheds. These natural buffers protect us. Neglecting them is like pulling the brakes off a runaway truck.”

Such sustainable solutions not only mitigate disaster, but also empower communities, restore biodiversity, and secure future water sources.

Greenpeace: “Make Polluters Pay”

For Greenpeace Southeast Asia, the call is clear: President Marcos must champion the Climate Accountability Bill (CLIMA). Jefferson Chua, Climate Campaigner, minced no words:

“We need a just and swift phaseout of fossil fuels. It’s time to make climate polluters pay for the destruction they’ve caused. Marcos has a historic opportunity to lead.”

The bill would compel corporations—many of them foreign—to pay for the loss and damage they’ve inflicted, offering communities a fighting chance to recover and adapt.

A Toxic Legacy: Coal, Vapes, and Greenwashing

Beyond carbon, other toxins are under fire. From coal plants to e-cigarettes, the spectrum of pollutants poisoning Filipino lives is vast.

Rene Pineda, President of the Partnership for Clean Air, warns:

“The government must reject coal and nuclear, and mainstream renewable energy. We need strong incentives for solar, wind, and sustainable innovation—not more excuses.”

Meanwhile, Dr. Maricar Limpin of Action on Smoking and Health (ASH Philippines) highlighted the environmental and health hazards of the tobacco and vape industries:

“Tobacco and vapes pollute air, water, and soil. Their toxic legacy is masked by greenwashing. We demand higher taxes, plain packaging, and comprehensive ad bans.”

Environmental health is public health, they emphasized—and no administration can claim progress while turning a blind eye to poisonous products.

From Enforcement to Transformation: A Legislative Call to Arms

While CLIMA is vital, so too is enforcing the country’s existing environmental laws—RA 9003, RA 8749, RA 9275, and RA 9729. The Coalition urged lawmakers to close the gap between law and practice and to support additional measures including:

The Safe and Non-Hazardous Children’s Products Act

Ratification of the Basel Convention Ban Amendment

Inclusion of Lead Chromates under the Rotterdam Convention

A strong Global Treaty on Plastic Pollution

Adoption of the Global Framework on Chemicals (GFC)

The GFC, although not legally binding, outlines 28 concrete targets—ranging from phasing out hazardous pesticides by 2035 to preventing illegal chemical trade by 2030. These global benchmarks could become the blueprint for Philippine legislation.

The Final Plea: “This Is Not Just Policy—It’s Survival”

Aileen Lucero, National Coordinator of EcoWaste Coalition, captured the urgency in one powerful assertion:

“We are fighting for nothing less than the right of every Filipino—especially children, women, and the marginalized—to breathe clean air, drink safe water, and live free from toxins. This is not a privilege. It’s a right. And it’s time it was treated as such.”

The coalition’s message to PBBM is clear: inaction is no longer an option, and half-measures are no longer acceptable.

A President’s Legacy in Peril

President Marcos Jr. will take the podium on July 28. The world—and the waters—will be watching. Will he champion the human right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment? Or will he continue policies that, by the judgment of the international court, could soon be considered a breach of global law—and a betrayal of his people?

Because in the Philippines, every rainfall now comes with a reckoning. And every flooded home is a question shouted through the storm:

Where is the justice in this climate injustice?

Land of the Lost: Farmers Slam Marcos Jr.’s 99-Year Land Lease and Forestry Deals as Sellout of Philippine Sovereignty

Wazzup Pilipinas!?

As the nation braces for President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s fourth State of the Nation Address (SONA), a storm is already brewing—not in the sky, but in the fields and forests of the Philippines.

Rural communities, already battered by decades of landlessness and exclusion, are now facing what many call the most aggressive corporate land grab in recent history. The Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) has raised the alarm on the bicameral approval of a bill that would allow foreign entities to lease Philippine land for up to 99 years—a staggering move that critics warn would reduce Filipino farmers to mere spectators in their own homeland.

At the heart of this outrage is the consolidated version of House Bill 10755 and Senate Bill 2898, which amends the Investors' Lease Act (RA 7652). This legislative shift extends the lease period from 75 to 99 years—longer than the average Filipino lifespan. Now awaiting President Marcos Jr.'s signature or veto, this bill is seen by KMP as nothing less than the legalization of long-term land-grabbing dressed up as economic development.

“This is not development. This is betrayal,” said KMP Chairperson Danilo Ramos in a scathing statement. “Marcos Jr. is turning Philippine lands into corporate enclaves. These policies are not about sustainability or investment—they are about selling out our sovereignty to the highest bidder.”

But the 99-year lease is just one part of a twin assault on rural communities.

The Marcos administration is also aggressively rolling out the Sustainable Forest Land Management Program (SFLMP), targeting over 40,000 hectares of forest lands under the guise of reforestation and “green” development. Ramos warns that this initiative, backed by the Foreign Industry Roadmap (FIRM), is yet another scheme designed to displace indigenous peoples and farmers while lining the pockets of corporate giants.

“Don’t be fooled by the green rhetoric. This is legalized land-grabbing in its most dangerous form,” Ramos declared. “They speak of forest rehabilitation, but what they truly mean is corporate extraction hidden behind eco-friendly buzzwords.”

The SFLMP paints a dystopian picture of a future where forest lands—once protected by ancestral domain, cultural ties, and ecological balance—become battlegrounds for profit-driven “eco-industrial” ventures, many of which are bankrolled by foreign investors and powerful political clans.

From Lifeline to Commodity

Once again, the age-old narrative resurfaces: land, the very soul of the Filipino identity, reduced to a commodity. What used to be rice paddies and coconut groves, passed down through generations, are now being reshaped into investment portfolios and speculative assets.

“This is the clearest proof that Marcos Jr. is the chief representative of landlords and oligarchs,” said Ramos. “These policies will evict farmers and indigenous peoples, deepen land monopoly, and annihilate any hope for agrarian justice.”

Business groups, meanwhile, have praised the 99-year lease provision as “game-changing”—a term Ramos rebuked as “an insult to every farmer who has bled for this land.”

“What is truly game-changing is the scale of betrayal we are witnessing. Foreign corporations will be allowed to control our lands for longer than a Filipino’s lifetime,” Ramos said. “Ang ibinibenta ng gobyernong Marcos Jr. ay mga lupaing bumubuhay sa mga Pilipino.”

The Illusion of Progress

The Marcos administration has insisted that such policies are crucial to attracting foreign investment and spurring economic growth. But for those on the ground, this so-called progress is a mirage—one that masks a deeper erosion of democratic access to land and livelihood.

In truth, these policies reek of a familiar formula: marginalize the poor, exalt the powerful, and call it reform.

What’s unfolding isn’t just a policy debate—it’s a seismic battle over who gets to decide the fate of Philippine land. Is it the farmer who tills the soil, the Lumad who guards the forest, the fisherfolk who depend on mangrove ecosystems—or is it the faceless corporate boardrooms thousands of miles away?

A People's Resistance Rises

KMP has vowed to resist. On July 28, during the People’s SONA, they will join broad mobilizations to call for the outright rejection of the 99-year lease bill and the cancellation of the DENR’s forestry investment program.

This isn’t just a protest—it is a declaration of resistance by those who refuse to be erased.

“This land is not for sale. It never was,” said Ramos. “We will not allow our future to be leased away.”

As the president ascends the podium for his SONA, farmers and indigenous peoples will rise from the margins—undaunted, unwavering, and unrelenting in their cry: Land for the tillers, not for the tycoons.

In the end, this is not simply about laws or leases. It is about life—who gets to live with dignity, and who gets pushed to the edge of survival. And if history is any indication, it is in the soil of resistance where true revolution begins.

Trading Safety for CTO: When Government Loses Sight of Its People

Wazzup Pilipinas!?

In the face of howling winds, torrential rain, and rising floodwaters, one would expect compassion, caution, and common sense from those entrusted with public service. But reality tells a different, far more troubling story.

While much of the country is submerged under the wrath of typhoons and monsoon rains, government agencies are dangling Compensatory Time Off (CTO) like a glittering bait—an incentive for employees to wade through danger, gamble with their lives, and clock in as if all is normal.

It’s not just outrageous. It’s absurd and inhumane.

What does this say about the state of our bureaucracy? When a few measly hours or days of leave become the carrot on a stick to drive workers into flooded streets and landslide-prone roads, it’s not just a misjudgment—it’s a moral failure.

A False Sense of Protection for the Privileged Few

Top-level officials, safe and dry within five-star hotels or air-conditioned government venues, issue memos encouraging attendance. But what about the journey? The commute that turns deadly when rivers overflow, jeepneys disappear, and even emergency services are stretched thin?

Those in power forget that not everyone has the luxury of a chauffeured vehicle. Many government workers are left to fend for themselves, trudging through knee-deep floodwaters just to punch in, all for the promise of a CTO that will likely be used when the weather is sunny and the danger long gone.

Is the Government Keeping Score or Saving Lives?

Let’s be clear: CTO is not a lifeline. It is a loophole—a convenient excuse to keep operations running even if it puts lives at risk. It's the kind of bureaucratic maneuvering that prioritizes appearances over people, protocols over protection.

Has the grind of government service become so mechanized, so blind to human reality, that staff must be bribed to choose duty over safety? Have we become so desensitized that we now equate a few hours off work as equal to the risk of drowning or electrocution in flood-prone cities?

The Real Score: Accountability, Not Attendance

The Philippine government must ask itself: What is the true cost of enforcing presence during a climate disaster? Every time a government worker is forced to report despite life-threatening conditions, the institution not only gambles with that person’s well-being—it loses the moral high ground it claims to hold.

It’s time to stop treating staff as disposable assets in times of crisis. The real measure of good governance is not how many warm bodies show up to work during a storm—it’s how leadership protects its people, especially those without titles, drivers, or corporate safety nets.

A Call for Compassion Over Compliance

This is not just about policy—it’s about humanity. CTO should never be a lure in times of disaster. It should never be a silent ultimatum whispered between the lines of government memos.

To the leaders hiding behind protocols while expecting others to march through chaos: remember, you don’t inspire loyalty by demanding sacrifice—you earn it by showing care.

In times of disaster, safety must always trump service. Compassion must outweigh compliance. And CTO? It should never be worth more than a life.