QUEZON CITY — The EcoWaste Coalition has condemned the arrest and detention of four Filipino activists from Greenpeace Southeast Asia on May 8 after peaceably calling on the ASEAN leaders to end plastic pollution and the region’s dependence on fossil fuels. The activists were subsequently released by the Lapu-Lapu City Police on May 9, but were charged for allegedly violating the Public Assembly Act of 1985.
“Unlike industrial polluters and corrupt politicians, the Greenpeace activists inflicted no harm to the planet, people, and wildlife with their peaceful, non-violent action. Instead of charging them, they should be honored for raising the people’s demand for real, not cosmetic, solutions to the waste and plastic problems affecting our nations and citizens,” said Aileen Lucero, National Coordinator, EcoWaste Coalition.
“We call on the police to acknowledge the efforts of the activists to protect Mother Earth and drop all charges without condition,” she emphasized.
“We stand with Greenpeace Philippines, a founding convenor of the EcoWaste Coalition, in pushing the ASEAN to deal with the plastic pollution crisis at source and move the regional bloc away from fossil dependence that fuels the plastic and climate crisis,” Lucero added. “Strong global, regional and national measures need to be crafted and enforced to cut plastic production and use, eliminate toxic chemicals, hold polluters accountable, and speed up a just transition to fossil fuels-, toxics-, and plastics-free future.”
Recent landfill disasters in Cebu, Rizal, and Navotas highlight the fatal flaws of a disposal-centric waste system in the Philippines and Southeast Asia, the EcoWaste Coalition stated. The group called for an urgent shift toward sustainable, people-centered solutions, rejecting further investment in conventional landfills and waste-to-energy incinerators.
“While ASEAN leaders spoke of resilience, sustainability, and regional cooperation inside the summit, peaceful activists calling out the root causes of the climate and plastic crises were detained outside it. The arrests expose the widening gap between ASEAN leaders’ rhetoric and the realities facing communities across Southeast Asia, who continue to bear the brunt of worsening plastic pollution, climate disasters, toxic pollution, and fossil fuel dependence,” said Mariann Ledesma, Zero Waste Campaigner, Greenpeace Philippines.
“Activism is not a crime, and peaceful protest is not a threat to democracy. Demanding accountability from governments and corporate polluters is not a crime. President Marcos Jr. himself has repeatedly spoken about a ‘whole-of-society’ approach in addressing crises. A truly people-centered approach means listening to those calling attention to the serious problems facing our country today, instead of responding to them with criminal charges. Governments should not fear young people, communities, and environmental defenders speaking out,” she said.
“We call for the immediate dropping of charges against the activists and urge Philippine authorities to uphold the rights to free expression and peaceful protest. The real threat to Southeast Asia is not activism, but the continued failure of leaders to confront the corporations, systems, and injustices driving climate destruction, plastic pollution, and deepening social inequality across the region,” Ledesma concluded.
