ENVIRONMENTAL and urban poor rights groups renewed calls for a shift toward just, sustainable energy and waste solutions following a series of Lenten protest actions dubbed “Kalbaryo ng Manggagawa at Maralitang Manilenyo” held on March 28.
Organized by Bagong Alyansang Makabayan, the actions highlighted the everyday “kalbaryo,” or suffering, faced by Filipinos, particularly informal urban settlers and communities affected by harmful environmental projects such as the proposed waste-to-energy (WtE) incinerator in Smokey Mountain, Tondo, Manila. If built, the project is expected to generate harmful air emissions reaching several kilometers, pollute Manila Bay through wastewater discharges and produce large volumes of hazardous ash.
The event featured a Lenten procession from San Pablo Apostol Parish Church in Tondo to Smokey Mountain, with workers and urban poor communities dramatizing their struggles through symbolic cross-carrying and cultural performances.
The groups linked these local struggles to unfolding global crises. With escalating tensions involving Iran and the United States, disruptions in the global oil and petrochemical supply chain are driving up the costs of fossil fuel-based products, especially plastics. Industry estimates warn of possible price increases of up to 80 to 100 percent for plastic raw materials, further exposing the long-term unsustainability of burning fossil-based waste. The groups said prioritizing WtE incinerators, which rely on a constant supply of plastic waste, diverts public resources to costly and inflexible technologies that may eventually become unviable due to feedstock constraints.
“Ang kalbaryo ng mamamayan ay simbolo ng pagpapahirap sa maralita, kung saan ang mga manggagawa ang patuloy na pumapasan ng bigat ng kahirapan at karahasan sa lipunan,” said Macoy Cabangon of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan-Manila.
They added that the Philippines’ recent declaration of a national energy emergency under Executive Order 110, s. 2026, should prioritize people-centered solutions. Instead of investing in incineration, the government must allocate resources toward social services, food security, housing and job generation. According to a study by the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives, green jobs such as repair, recycling and remanufacturing can generate over 200 times, 50 times and 30 times more jobs compared to landfills and incinerators.
Brex Arevalo, climate and anti-Incineration campaigner of the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives Asia Pacific, said that WtE incinerators “are fossil-fueled technologies relying on plastics and waste imports that have brought staggering losses and damages to our environment, climate and society, with harmful emissions documented worldwide. We strongly urge our leaders to support frontline communities who have long championed people-centered climate and waste work through resource recovery, segregation and recycling, all of which are resilient to fossil fuel-based crises like those experienced today.”
