FOLLOWING heavy southwest monsoon rains that left heaps of garbage floating across Parañaque City, environmental justice group BAN Toxics has raised the alarm on the country’s worsening waste management crisis, calling for systemic government action rather than blaming individual citizens.
The advocacy group pushed back against recent statements from Malacañang attributing the crisis to public irresponsibility.
BAN Toxics emphasized that shifting blame onto citizens ignores systemic government failures to fully enforce environmental laws.
“Individual accountability cannot be used as an excuse for the government’s failure to fulfill its responsibilities,” said Thony Dizon, Advocacy and Campaign Officer of BAN Toxics.
Dizon highlighted that while waste management is a shared responsibility, the state holds the mandate and resources to build functional waste systems and improve public education.
BAN Toxics is demanding a comprehensive review of Republic Act 9003, or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000.
Despite the law requiring a Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) in every barangay or cluster, data from the Compendium of Philippine Environment Statistics shows only 20,458 MRFs exist for over 42,000 barangays nationwide.
Local Government Units (LGUs) are also falling short on mandates to divert at least 25% of solid waste from disposal facilities.
The group noted that waste recovery heavily relies on informal waste collectors, advocating for their integration into formal systems with proper benefits, training, and safe working conditions.
According to Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) reports, the Philippines generates over 60,000 metric tons of waste daily, with plastic comprising up to 24 percent.
With over 70% of LGUs lacking local single-use plastic regulations and no national ban in place, BAN Toxics called for immediate source reduction and alternative packaging systems.
Additionally, BAN Toxics urged transparent investigations into flood-control funding and rejected waste-to-energy (WTE) technologies promoted in President Marcos Jr.’s State of the Nation Address, labeling incineration a “false solution” that releases toxic pollutants.
Instead, the group champions institutionalizing zero-waste strategies focused on reduction and elimination at the source.
