President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. underscored in his second State of the Nation Address (SONA) in 2023 the importance of making the environment a priority, even stressing that climate change was made an “important criterion” in the country’s national policies, planning, decision-making, and implementation of programs.
This promise was tested in Marcos’ second year as chief executive when he faced several environmental issues, from continued environmental defender killings in the country to ecological damage in the West Philippine Sea.
In some issues, Marcos and his administration played catch-up in addressing the problems, while some issues seemed to have fallen on deaf ears. In its second year in office, the Marcos administration mostly provided Band-aid solutions to long-term environmental issues.
Look back on the year that was for the Philippine environment.
Deadliest country in Asia for environmental defender
For the 10th straight year, the Philippines is still the most dangerous country in Asia for land and environmental defenders, according to a report from nongovernment organization Global Witness.
Out of 334 environmental defenders killed in the country over the past two decades, 132 were from five provinces. ‘Duterte-era’ policies that persist also continue to endanger them.
This comes after the DENR suspended its agreement with the Socorro Bayanihan Services Inc. that granted the latter use of over 300 hectares of protected land in Surigao del Norte.
‘To achieve the 30×30 targets by the decade’s end, the Philippines…is dedicated to significantly increasing protected areas on both land and seas,’ says Environment Undersecretary Ernesto Adobo Jr.
15 kilometers from shore to sea is what small fishers get. Without updated vessel monitoring measures and robust law enforcement, they fear their livelihood is at risk.
Gamaliel Cordoba, who headed the NTC under Duterte, has a personal stake in commercial fishing because of his family’s business. During his time, the commission stopped issuing service numbers for trackers that would prevent unregulated fishing.
Municipal fisherfolk remain among the poorest Filipinos, earning only an average of P363 (US$6.45)* a day, and the possibility of losing preferential access to their fishing grounds poses an added threat to their existence.
Bright Kindle Resources and Investments Incorporated, a holding company owned by the family of House Speaker Martin Romualdez, is set to acquire a sand mining company for P5 billion.
The Philippine government should address issues in the mining sector as the country joins the transition from fossil fuel-based energy to renewable sources, several groups say.
Forced to vacate their shoreline homes in 2020, Teduray residents were buried in mud after fatal landslides triggered by Severe Tropical Storm Paeng hit them in October 2022. Private resorts have since taken over, one of them owned by a political family.
Since 2005, the Tedurays have been lobbying for the government’s formal recognition of their ancestral domain. The urgent priority should be the approval of an IP Code to address these land issues.
In many housing sites, Yolanda survivors make do without water connections in their homes. These problems partly explain why some 30% of built housing units are unoccupied to this day.
This has been a ‘long time coming’ after the Philippines spent decades ‘at the forefront of the negotiations for the loss and damage fund,’ says Philippine Environment Secretary Toni Yulo-Loyzaga.
For years, the Philippines has had a strong voice and was a big player in climate negotiations – until Duterte happened. Under Marcos, a climate expert says ‘we’re finding that voice again.’
Rappler’s data analysis of HazardHunterPH data shows that Sipalay has the most number of schools that double as evacuation centers during disasters, with a very high risk of flooding in Negros Occidental.
Experts say that moving all critical facilities away from flood zones is a complex process, and finding a solution that checks all the boxes takes time.
Local governments tend to be ‘reactive’ in their disaster spending, greatly underspending funds intended for more preemptive, long-term programs, according to an Oxfam Pilipinas study.
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Pending and future environmental compliance certificate applications within protected areas will now be escalated to the Environmental Management Bureau at the DENR’s Central Office.
A resolution to repeal previous Protected Area Management Board orders that allowed structures in the Chocolate Hills Natural Monument, is already in the works, says Department of Environment and Natural Resources regional executive director Paquito Melicor.
Built on protected areas, the resort operated for months without an environmental compliance certificate and managed to get a business permit and a renewal.
Other stories on the Chocolate Hills resort controversy:
The Armed Forces of the Philippines raises the alarm over what they suspect to be massive illegal harvesting of corals in Rozul Reef located in the West Philippine Sea.
A Philippine Coast Guard official says China should be held accountable for environmental damage in and near Pag-asa Island (Thitu), located 300 nautical miles from Palawan.
Experts from different institutions come together to survey the resources in the West Philippine Sea in the hope of providing a ‘framework or method to assess the damage’ in the area.
The Office of the Solicitor General’s latest move stems from the authorities’ discovery of extensive damage in the marine environment frequently visited by Chinese ships.
While there are no studies yet that show the extent of learning loss for weeks of class suspensions, Philippine Business for Education executive director Justine Raagas says that long school breaks could result in learning loss.