OCEANA BLASTS GOVERNMENT’S DEAD-END OBSESSION WITH WASTE-TO-ENERGY
Press Release Date: August 12, 2026
MANILA – The appalling images of the Redemptorist Water Channel in Parañaque choked in plastic — and the almost inevitable “dagat ng basura” scenes we witness in the metropolis with every flood — are not merely evidence of undisciplined citizens. They are a damning indictment of a failed system and a government unwilling to look beyond the tip of its nose, according to marine conservation group Oceana.
“While Malacañang in its latest pronouncement fixates on ‘waste-to-energy’ as a silver bullet and scolds the public for littering, it is willfully ignoring the root of this catastrophe: the relentless, unchecked flood of single-use plastics — sachets, styrofoam, and plastic bags — being pumped into our economy by major corporations,” said Von Hernandez, Vice President of Oceana.
He added, “You cannot burn, process, or manage your way out of a crisis when the tap is gushing at full force.”
Oceana rejects the familiar refrain from government agencies every time the garbage crisis rears its head: blaming the victims while enabling the producers. “We have a 25-year-old law —Republic Act 9003 — that already provides a clear roadmap: reduce plastic at the source and ban non-environmentally acceptable products,” Hernandez said. “Yet the National Solid Waste Management Commission has sat on its hands, refusing to implement the ban, while the DENR now champions incineration disguised as ‘waste-to-energy.’”
“We are choking on 163 million sachets a day, and the official response is to build more incinerators to process what we can’t recycle,” added Hernandez. “This is not a solution — it is a subsidy for polluters, a source of toxic air pollution, and a debt trap for local governments.”
Oceana demands real leadership. The government must:
• Implement RA 9003 fully and without further delay.
• Ban non-essential single-use plastics.
• Mandate and scale up reuse and refill systems.
• Stop blaming the people for pollution pushed onto them by multinational giants.
“We need to switch off the tap. There is simply too much plastic in the system to manage in a ‘safe’ or ‘sustainable’ manner. The only viable path is to stop producing it in the first place,” Hernandez said. (END)
Oceana is the largest international organization dedicated solely to ocean conservation. Our mission is to rebuild abundant and biodiverse oceans by winning science-based policies that stop overfishing, protect habitats and threatened species, curb oil and plastic pollution, and increase transparency at sea. With more than 350 victories, Oceana’s campaigns are delivering results – for the oceans, for coastal communities, and for the planet. A restored ocean means that 1 billion people can enjoy a healthy, climate-smart seafood meal every day, forever. Together, we can save the oceans and help feed the world. Join us at Oceana.org.
For More Information:
Joyce Sierra, Communications Manager, Oceana
Mobile: 09178214430 E-mail: jsierra@oceana.org
Facebook: www.facebook.com/oceana.philippines
Twitter: @oceana_ph Instagram: @oceana_ph