February 14, 2022

Manila, Philippines – EcoWaste Coalition and the Malate Catholic Church convened on Monday at Rajah Sulayman Park to call out the 18th Congress on passing bills that are “false solutions”.

The Senate and House of Representatives (HoR) already passed on third reading the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) Bill amending Republic Act 9003, otherwise known as the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act.  The HoR has passed the Waste-to-Energy (WTE) Bill on third reading, while the Senate version is still pending for second reading.

If there are “red flags” in relationships, there are also red flags to look out for in our waste crisis.

The EcoWaste Coalition and the Malate Catholic Church fear that if the aforecited bills are passed, it will exacerbate not just the plastic, but the climate crisis. The group warned that while these measures sound promising, these are actually “red flags” or “false solutions.” .

“It’s in the nitty gritty. If this is the EPR version that will be enacted, we’d rather not have it. Without clear targets and timeline on reducing plastic  – at the very production stage – our plastic crisis will only get worse. The current version heavily focuses on the downstream approach, recovery and recycling, but not much on redesigning products and innovating business models to eliminate single-use plastics,” said Coleen Salamat, Plastic Solutions Campaigner, EcoWaste Coalition

The International Pollutants Elimination Network (IPEN) recently released a report criticizing  increased recycling rates as an insufficient “solution” to the health and environmental problems  caused by the massive overproduction of plastics. The group, which includes the EcoWaste Coalition among its members, pointed out that “almost all plastics contain toxic chemicals that are not removed during recycling but are carried over to the new products, and the recycling process can even generate new toxic chemicals such as dioxins.”

EcoWaste argued that not all recycling is environmentally sound, especially those practices involving the incineration of plastics in thermal WtE facilities.

“WTE facilities are unsustainable “solutions” that exacerbate the waste problem. The claim that WTEs is an effective way to eliminate waste is little more than a bad case of greenwashing. Instead of reducing waste, WTE legitimizes continued extraction from the environment and unsustainable consumerism, while accelerating climate change, polluting the environment, and threatening human health,” said Lievj Alimangohan, Senior Policy Officer, Ecowaste Coalition.

“We have to take bolder actions now that we are facing a climate crisis. As we create measures to ease the plastic pollution, we have to make sure it truly solves the problem. We call for lasting zero waste solutions, not band-aid measures. We need to wake up. 100 years ago there was no plastic. Now it’s in the seas, fish, and the whole food chain. It’s even in the human placenta,” added Fr. John Leydon, Chair, Laudato Si Movement

The groups emphasized “We are watching the 18th Congress. We need laws that slow, not accelerate climate change. We can’t afford quick fixes now that we are facing irreversible climate-change damages.”

About EcoWaste Coalition | The EcoWaste Coalition is a national network of more than 150 public interest groups pursuing sustainable and just solutions to waste, climate change and chemical issues towards the envisioned Zero Waste 2020 goal.

Websites: www.ecowastecoalition.org and www.ecowastecoalition.blogspot.com

The coming National and Local Elections is an opportunity to exercise our Catholic Christian call to social responsibility and love of country. It is happening at a time when our country confronts unprecedented crises of enormous proportions, with millions of our kababayans suffering from the health, economic, and psychological impacts of the pandemic, and the devastation of typhoon Odette. People are afraid of what the uncertain future holds. We are struggling between hope and despair, even toward the leaders we are electing three months from now.

We, the undersigned members of the National Board of the Catholic Educational Association of the Philippines (CEAP), a national network of private Catholic schools in all regions of our country, believe that our Christian values should be proclaimed vigorously in these elections. These values are at the core of our mission of teaching, research, community engagement, and spiritual formation.

• We value truth, and thus we deplore the massive disinformation that is deceiving our people, especially our youth, in a way that is unparalleled in our history. We vehemently reject the candidates who run under this platform of lies and historical distortion – disseminated in social media by massively-financed trolls – particularly the brazen presentation of the Marcos dictatorship and Martial Law as benevolent regimes in our political history. We denounce candidates who exploit our people’s poverty through vote buying and intimidation.

• We value justice, and thus we reject candidates who have supported the unjust acts of the current administration, particularly its drug war that has killed thousands, mostly poor and powerless, and the blatant lack of remorse and accountability from the country’s leadership. We reject candidates who supported the current administration’s policy toward China’s aggression inside Philippine territory, its rejection of the Hague ruling, and the lack of protection of Filipino fisherfolk.

• We value democracy, and thus we support candidates who uphold it and the rule of law in our land. We reject candidates who undermine democracy through intolerance of critique and opposition, influence peddling in all three branches of government, perpetuation of a culture of impunity, traditional and patronage politics, and through rampant human rights violations.

• We value integrity, and thus we support candidates with the following qualities: no record of corruption, proven competence in participatory governance, transparency and accountability in public service, love for the poor and their empowerment, ability to sacrifice for the sake of the common good, and readiness to fight for values of truth, social justice, and democracy. We support leaders who wield power as social responsibility and not self-entitlement, and who can connect to the spiritual in their lives, through their conscience, discernment, and faith in God.

• We value our work of educating the youth, and thus we support candidates who will uphold, push, and support legislation to strengthen private education and recognize its complementarity with public education, as critical in nation building.

As educators, we humbly pursue our mission to be beacons of light – to bring the light of truth, justice, democracy, and integrity to our society, now languishing in the darkness of lies, injustice, authoritarianism, and dysfunctional leadership and governance. The May Elections is the opportunity that will break this darkness.

Tagapamuno: Manalangin tayo upang sa papalapit na pambansa at panglokal na halalan ay tunay na maghari ang kalooban ng Diyos, na Siyang gumagabay sa lahat ng bansa.

Sama-sama nating idalangin: Iligtas mo kami, Panginoon.
Mula sa pamimilit, pananakot, karahasan, at terorismo …
Mula sa panloloko, pagsisinungaling, at pagbaluktot sa katotohanan …
Mula sa panunuhol, kasakiman, at sabwatan upang makapandaya …
Mula sa kawalang-muwang sa panlilinlang at makitid na pananaw …
Mula sa pagbabanta, pananakot, at lapastangang pananalita …

Tagapamuno: Sama-sama nating idalangin: Dinggin Mo kami, Panginoon.
Upang ang aming budhi ang siyang gawing tunay na pamantayan …
Upang ang kabutihan ng nakararami ang aming pinakamataas na layunin …
Upang ang dignidad ng tao ay palagiang igalang …
Upang ang kapos-palad at mahihina ay pag-ukulan ng higit na pansin …
Upang ang pangangalaga sa kalikasan ay hindi ipagwalang-bahala …
Upang ang pagkakaisa ay magbigay-daan sa landas ng kapayapaan at kaunlaran …
Upang ang banal na pagkatakot sa Diyos at pag-ibig sa kapwa ang maging gabay ng mga nagnanais manungkulan sa pamahalaan …

Tagapamuno: Manalangin tayo.
Lahat: Pastol ng aming kaluluwa at Tagapagligtas ng sanlibutan, ang pulitika ay Iyong kaloob sa amin; isang paanyaya upang maglingkod sa iba at lumago sa kabanalan. Gabayan Mo ang pulitika sa aming bansa katulad ng pag-gabay mo sa amin. Nawa ang aming pulitikal na pakikilahok para sa mga botante at kandidato ay magdulot ng kaluwalhatian sa Iyong mahal na ngalan at matulungan din kaming yumabong sa kabutihan, ngayon at magpasawalang hanggan. Amen