THE LATE pope Francis frequently denounced the modern “throwaway culture” that treats both objects and people as disposable. He had warned that the earth was beginning to look like “an immense pile of filth” due to the vast amounts of waste generated annually. He also criticized the wasting of food and water, saying throwing out food is like stealing from the poor. Francis advocated for a circular production model that prioritizes reusing and recycling to conserve resources for future generations.
Cebu City councilor Joel Garganera told the media that “a landfill or a mountain that is made of garbage… is like a sponge: it really absorbs water. It doesn’t (take one to be) a rocket scientist to say that, eventually, [such an] incident will happen.”
The Philippines is facing serious challenges in waste management that the government has to address urgently, or else more tragic events will happen on the many dumpsites around the country, endangering thousands of people. Many of these sites are, in fact, illegal and growing faster than the legal ones approved by local government units (LGUs).
As of 2025, illegal dumpsites around the country increased by 84 percent year on year. Meanwhile, legal landfill sites grew by 14.7 percent, bringing the total to 343. LGUs cannot cope with the growing volume of garbage being generated, some of which are hazardous.
The region with the most serious concentration of hazardous industrial wastes as of 2024 is in Region 4A, or Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon). It accounted for about 43 percent of the country’s total.
Some of the illegal dumpsites on private property are to be found in Arenda, on the north shore of Laguna de Bay, and also in Nosara Spring.
In Manila Bay, Baseco Beach is constantly polluted with plastic despite the ongoing heroic efforts of the “Baseco Beach Warriors,” who hold regular cleanup operations and pick up hundreds of bags of trash every week. This condition will only get worse everywhere unless there is a strict implementation of the rule of law and a complete change in the minds and hearts of people to love their environment and clean, recycle, and segregate trash for organized municipal pickup.
A World Bank study predicted that by 2025, the nation’s waste generation would be at 77,776 tons a day, or close to 28.39 million tons a year, considering the country’s population growth, particularly in urban areas. The most recent National Waste Analysis and Characterization Study found that 56.7 percent of municipal solid waste was generated from residential sources. A further 27.1 percent was from commercial establishments. The industrial and manufacturing sectors contribute the remaining 12.1 percent and 4.1 percent, respectively.
Pope Francis linked environmental abuse to social injustice, urging humanity to hear “both the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor.”
When alive, he described the pollution of oceans, particularly from plastic waste, as “criminal.” He argued that wealthier nations have an “ecological debt” to poorer ones due to their disproportionate use of resources and export of toxic waste. He also attributed the “great majority” of global warming to human activity driven by a “predatory attitude” and the pursuit of short-term gain./PN
