“Mayaman ang kalikasan ng Pilipinas, ngunit naghihirap ang mamamayang Pilipino dahil sa lokal at dayuhang kapitalistang pandarambong ng mga korporasyon na pinapahintulutan at hinihikayat ng pamahalaan.” (The Philippine environment is rich, but the Filipino people are suffering due to local and foreign capitalist plunder of corporations enabled and encouraged by the government.) 

This central quote from Center for Environmental Concerns – Philippines (CEC) Research and Advocacy Staff Earth Palacio summarized the state of the Philippine environment on the fourth year of the administration of President Marcos Jr., during the Plundered, Not Poor: State of the Philippine Environment 2026 Forum earlier this month. 

The recent massive tree-cutting by the San Miguel Corporation to make way for yet another private expressway project, under permits from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, did not only stir nationwide calls to protect the Philippines’ remaining forests and urban green spaces [1]. It also exposed a pattern of environmental destruction signed off by government offices and carried out by plunderous companies, under the guise of “progress and development.”

In contrast to how he has positioned himself as a climate champion, Marcos Jr. has aggressively expanded destructive large-scale mining operations, even personally securing plunderous investments from long-controversial mining corporations [2], such as OceanaGold. This is a huge insult to all the frontline communities in Nueva Vizcaya and beyond who have waged fierce and tireless opposition to defend their lands. Following the success of the community of Dupax Del Norte to have mining exploration temporarily halted, residents of the nearby town in Pao, Kasibu, set up a community barricade to halt the North Luzon Mineral Resources Corporation’s 4,456-hectare mining exploration project [3]. They have also filed a cancellation permit with the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) to permanently stop its operations. The Pala’wan Indigenous people in Brooke’s Point took the same action to block the heavy equipment of Calmia Nickel Corp. of MacroAsia Mining Corp., wholly owned by billionaire Lucio Tan [4]. While in Apayao, residents actively formed a broad coalition in resistance to impending large-scale mining operations threatening their ancestral lands [5]. 

Simultaneously, the regime continues to greenwash corporate greed through disguised renewable energy (RE) projects and other false solutions. Our mountains are continuously plagued by megadams, such as the Ahunan Dam in Laguna and the Gened-1 Dam in Apayao, all contested for displacing indigenous communities, degrading forests, and defacing heritage.  Similarly, proposed wind farms are challenged by locals due to the same reasons, such as those in Bangui, Burgos, Dumalneg, and Pagudpud in Ilocos Norte; in Tanay, Teresa, Talim Island, and within Masungi Georeserve in Rizal; in Alabat Island in Quezon; by the San Miguel Bay in Camarines Sur; and in Calbayog City, Samar. 

Furthermore, once productive agricultural and mountainside lands are now being converted by companies into their solar farms, aggressively driving away both locals and biodiversity, as seen in proposed and ongoing projects forcibly littered around Paoay, Gapan City, Olongapo City, Daanbantayan, and even on Laguna Lake. The administration has also aggressively pushed for the planned Labrador Nuclear Power Plant in Pangasinan [6], the massive MTerra Solar project in Central Luzon designed to export power to the corporate grid [7]. 

The local waste crisis, evidenced by multiple deadly landslides in landfills over the past months, is being aggressively capitalized on by developers and investors in hazardous waste-to-energy (WTE) incinerators.  Projects in Smokey Mountain under Phil. Ecology Systems Corp. (PhilEco), and in San Mateo, Rizal under the controversial ISWIMS (International Solid Waste Integrated Management Specialist Inc.) are being pushed amidst environmental concerns and the active displacement of communities [5]. 

More than bringing about irreversible environmental destruction, these projects threaten the displacement of communities and place opposing local defenders at risk of rights violations, especially as the state intensifies its defense of projects for national economic development, unleashing attacks to repress communities and environmental defenders, under a violent framework of counterterrorism. 

The law has been weaponized through the filing of Strategic Legal Suits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs) against human rights lawyers and even a Catholic bishop for standing in solidarity with mining-affected communities [9]. These attacks are accompanied by violent demolitions and systematic harassment of frontline communities resisting these projects. This is alongside ongoing militarization in the countryside, as exposed by the lingering injustice of the Negros 19 massacre [10].

The corporate plunder of Philippine natural resources is deeply intertwined with the administration’s deepening commitments of land and resources to U.S. military and geopolitical efforts, most exemplified in the entry of the Philippines into the Pax Silica initiative. Under the Marcos Jr. administration, the rapid expansion of EDCA military bases, specifically U.S.-funded infrastructure projects designed to support heavy fighter aircraft and drone fleets, threatens local ecosystems through severe land alteration, heightened carbon emissions, and chronic noise pollution. Furthermore, high-intensity live-fire drills, such as the historic launching of a Tomahawk cruise missile from a Typhon system at Tacloban International Airport, introduce critical ecological risks, including toxic chemical runoff.  [11]. Just recently, on July 22, state forces displayed gross police brutality during a peaceful protest against Pax Silica and other unequal agreements, resulting in the illegal arrest of an environmental defender and violent attempts to apprehend Moro leader Amirah Lidasan and two photojournalists documenting the incident [8].

While frontline communities suffer from the catastrophic effects of climate change and environmental degradation, the Marcos Jr. administration has wallowed in the benefits of systemic corruption. There has been little accountability for the multi-billion-peso flood control scam the President “exposed” in his last SONA, as the ‘big fish’ continue to swim free while communities remain unprotected from the worst impacts of climate change, including the ongoing threat of ‘super’ El Niño combined with habagat. Instead of reallocating state funds for genuine climate adaptation and community relief, the administration continues a business-as-usual approach of unchecked plunder, also seen in the political circus that delayed impeachment proceedings against Vice President Sara Duterte.

The Center for Environmental Concerns – Philippines (CEC) strongly condemns the worsening environmental plunder, systemic corruption, foreign subservience, and state-backed attacks on environmental human rights defenders (EHRDs) throughout the fourth year of the Ferdinand Marcos Jr. administration. 

As CEC has stood firm with the Filipino people, our verdict of the environmental situation is clear: the Marcos Jr. administration is a primary agent of environmental destruction and human rights violations. 

We call on all environmental advocates, rights defenders, and fellow Filipinos to unite and hold the administration accountable for its widespread corruption, environmental plunder, and treasonous agreements with the U.S.

We urge the people to stand for our rights, environment, and sovereignty by joining upcoming activities like the people’s State of the Nation Address (SONA) mobilization on July 27. Let us continue to uphold our national sovereignty, defend our ancestral lands, and protect the environment and its people.

References

[1] BusinessMirror. (2026, February 16). MGen unit to export solar to grid. https://businessmirror.com.ph/2026/02/16/mgen-unit-to-export-solar-to-grid/

[2] 

[3] Bulatlat. (2026, July 15). Indigenous peoples, environmentalists demand cancellation of Nueva Vizcaya mining permit. https://www.bulatlat.com/2026/07/15/indigenous-peoples-environmentalists-demand-cancellation-of-nueva-vizcaya-mining-permit/

[4] HiWars. (2026). Balikatan 2026: How the first-ever Tomahawk launch. https://hiwars.com/en/intel/balikatan-2026-how-the-first-ever-tomahawk-launch

[5] Manila Bulletin. (2026, May 28). Tree-cutting for SALEX done only as last resort — DENR. https://mb.com.ph/2026/05/28/tree-cutting-for-salex-done-only-as-last-resortdenr

[6] Manila Standard. (2026, April 30). Municipality of Labrador open to hosting nuclear energy facility. https://manilastandard.net/tech/314651880/municipality-of-labrador-open-to-hosting-nuclear-energy-facility.html

[7] Nordis Times. (2026, July 20). Environmental groups back lawyers in Nueva Vizcaya mining dispute. https://nordis.net/2026/07/20/article/news/environmental-groups-back-lawyers-in-nueva-vizcaya-mining-dispute/

[8] Nordis Times. (2026, July 23). Residents form coalition against large-scale mining in Apayao town. https://nordis.net/2026/07/23/article/news/residents-form-coalition-against-large-scale-mining-in-apayao-town/

[9] Pacesetter. (2026, July 16). “Napakasinungaling ng pulisya”: Dating BulSUan journalist-activist, inaresto habang nagko-cover ng demolisyon sa San Jose del Monte. Medium. https://medium.com/pacesetter/napakasinungaling-ng-pulisya-dating-bulsuan-journalist-activist-inaresto-habang-nagko-cover-ng-6a540460ec07

[10] Peoples Dispatch. (2026, April 29). 19 killed by army in Philippines, including two US citizens. https://peoplesdispatch.org/2026/04/29/19-killed-by-army-in-philippines-including-two-us-citizens/

[11] Pressenza. (2026, May 22). WTE incineration project in Smokey Mountain is a ticking bomb under Phileco. https://www.pressenza.com/2026/05/wte-incineration-project-in-smokey-mountain-is-a-ticking-bomb-under-phileco/The nickel of Brooke’s Point | The Manila Times

[12] The Manila Times. (2026, April 6). The nickel of Brooke’s Point. https://www.manilatimes.net/2026/04/06/opinion/columns/the-nickel-of-brookes-point/2314445