Despite recent controversies over billion-peso flood control projects, the Marcos Jr. administration is now pushing for a waste-to-energy initiative as a proposed solution to the perennial problem of waste management and flooding.
This year, Manila City is eyeing the first waste-to-energy facility in Smokey Mountain, Brgy. 128 in Tondo, turning up to 3,000 tons of solid waste into electricity every day. The 100-megawatt incinerator project is proposed by the Manila Integrated Environment Corp. (MIEC), a company majority owned by Phil. Ecology Systems Corp. (PHILECO), supported by Japan’s Kanadevia Corporation that costs P26.648 billion.
PHILECO, owned by business tycoon Reghis Romero, is one of the garbage collection contractors operating in Manila.
Waste trade-off
The Philippines is among the top waste generators in Southeast Asia, with 18.05 million tons of waste produced in 2020, and is projected to reach 23.61 million tons in 2025, according to the National Solid Waste Management Commission. In 2023, the country also dominated the world’s plastic waste with an estimated 3.30 kilograms per person annually. UK-based independent organization Utility Bidder said this staggering figure accounts for 36% of the world’s plastic waste.
“We have a proposal for a waste-to-energy solution in the City of Manila. I think that will go on, but that’s only for Manila,” President Marcos said in a press conference last August 11.
Waste-to-energy (WtE) is essentially the conversion of waste into usable energy through thermal processes. It involves the controlled combustion of waste in the presence of oxygen at temperatures of 850°C or higher. Such a process not only recovers heat and energy but also incorporates advanced systems to clean flue gases, treat wastewater, and manage different waste streams.
The practice of waste incineration dates back to the late 19th century, when growing urban populations led to increasing volumes of waste and frequent outbreaks of disease, prompting the need for more systematic waste management.
GAIA, a nonprofit network of organizations opposed to incineration, said that waste-to-energy projects will not address problems in waste management, and may even worsen them.
“Typically sa mga WtE incinerators, 25-30% ng waste nagiging ash. Kagaya ng mga nasa coal plant na nagiging ash sa coal plants, ganoon din sa mga WtE na may natitirang abo. At yung mga abong iyon, hazardous ash iyan. May mga pollutants at chemicals na nakakasama sa kalusugan ng mga tao maging sa environment. Mayroong mga cancer-causing chemicals diyan tulad ng dioxin,” said GAIA Climate and Anti-Incineration Campaigner Albrecht Arevalo.
Dioxins are known as environmental pollutants. These are primarily byproducts of industrial practices produced through a variety of incineration processes, including improper burning of municipal waste or other trash, and can be released into the air during natural processes, such as wildfires and volcanoes.
Arevalo added that such hazardous ash will still end up in landfills and, therefore, would not resolve waste management in the first place.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), dioxins are highly toxic and can cause reproductive and developmental problems, damage the immune system, interfere with hormones, and trigger cancer.
Developed countries like Japan, South Korea, Sweden, Finland, and the United Kingdom have turned to incineration following a growing consumer and industrial waste. Japan operates more than 1,000 WtEs, while Europe has over 500, burning thousands of tons of municipal waste every year to generate up to 4.2 gigawatts in Japan and 10.5 GW in Europe, respectively.
Various assessments on WtE have also been done in many Southeast Asian countries, including the Philippines, which were marred by issues of cost, efficiency, and strong community opposition.
In Baguio, Mayor Benjamin Magalong formally abandoned the city’s planned WtE project in July 2024 after listening to the lecture of Dr. Jorge Emmanuel during a forum on waste resources where environmental, health, and generational impacts of WtE plants were presented.
That same month this year, GAIA and other environmental advocates in Dumaguete successfully pushed for the suspension of a pyrolysis-gasification plant after citizen-led air quality monitoring documented PM₂.₅ levels up to seven times higher than WHO guidelines.
“Nagcocollaborate pa rin kami with other local groups na permanently mashutdown itong incinerator na ito,” said Arevalo.
Romero’s cash cow: Manila’s WtE
“For the past 20 years, walang bagong incinerator na itinatayo sa US at ang reason diyan ay dahil sa health concerns due to air pollution emissions,” Arevalo pointed.
While it is true that no new WtE incinerators have been fully completed and made operational in recent years, there is clear and active development underway at multiple sites across the Philippines despite the nationwide ban on incineration set in the Clean Air Act and Ecological Solid Waste Management Act.
In 2022, 13 WtE plants were registered under the Department of Energy. Six of which are operating with a combined installed capacity of 9.69 megawatts (MW) located in Metro Manila, Rizal, Cavite, and Cebu.
The following year, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) commissioned a feasibility study on WtE under the Metro Manila Flood Management Project, Component 2. The project carries a whopping cost of $500 million, with $207.6 million from the World Bank and another $207.6 million from the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, while the remaining $84.79 million will be shouldered by the Philippine government.
GAIA observed this troubling trend as WtEs are increasingly being pushed in Southeast Asian countries, particularly the Philippines, with less stringent laws and weaker protections compounded by democratic backsliding and militarization.
“Makikita natin dito sa Smokey Mountain, ang dami nang nadi-displace na bahay kung saan itatayo ang WtE. This is not a unique experience in the Philippines alone,” Arevalo added.
In the feasibility study, the MMDA has provided three potential sites for a WtE facility, including the 7-hectare Rizal Provincial Sanitary Landfill (RPSLF), 16-hectare New San Mateo Sanitary Landfill (SMSLF), and the six-hectare Smokey Mountain. Accordingly, the sites have been preselected as such landfills currently receive waste transported from the 17 cities in Metro Manila.
The feasibility study further highlights the disadvantage of the WtE in Smokey Mountain following its proximity to sensitive land uses and closeness to surface water, particularly Manila Bay.
“There should be considerable distance between an incineration plant and surface water to reduce the impact of eutrophication (Abushammala et al., 2022),” the study notes.
The potential risks are heightened given PHILECO’s track record of environmental non-compliance. In 2017, PHILECO was flagged by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) for dumping solid waste into Manila Bay. A notice of adverse findings from the DENR Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) dated September 25 cited several violations at PHILECO’s Vitas Marine Loading Station (VMLS) at Pier 18, including noncompliance with its environmental compliance certificate (ECC).
The VMLS, a transfer facility for Metro Manila’s waste transported by barge to the 40-hectare Navotas Sanitary Landfill, also operating under PHILECO, was found to have discharged untreated wastewater exceeding phosphate and total suspended solids limits. DENR also noted that PHILECO violated the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000 by storing waste beyond the 24-hour limit.
“Talagang napopollute ang kapaligiran lalo na sa waterwaste natin kung mapunta pa ito sa Manila Bay. Talagang macocontaminate hindi lang sa project area. Sa mga pag-aaral sa air pollution palang mula sa incinerators, 15–20 kilometer away ay may effect na,” said Arevalo.
Smokey Mountain is also placed in a high-density, residential mixed-use zone. Originally a landfill that operated for decades until its closure in 1995, the area was later redeveloped under the Smokey Mountain Development and Reclamation Project (SMDRP), which built permanent housing for informal settlers who had lived on or around the dumpsite.
The SMDRP was developed through a joint venture agreement (JVA) between the National Housing Authority (NHA) and R-II Builders, also owned by Romero. SMDRP aimed to convert the former dumpsite of Smokey Mountain into a housing and commercial development.
Under the JVA, R-II is entitled to own 40 hectares of reclamation of no more than 40 hectares of Manila Bay area across Radial Road 10; 1.3 hectares of commercial area at the Smokey Mountain area, and all the constructed units of medium-rise low-cost permanent housing units beyond the 3,500 units share of the NHA. While for the NHA, the agency is entitled to retain ownership of temporary and permanent housing units, open spaces, roads, and industrial sites.
The JVA, meanwhile, was amended twice the following year. NHA and R-II, alongside HGC and the Philippine National Bank (PNB), entered into an Asset Pool Formation Trust Agreement in September 1994. This agreement established a pool of assets to finance the project, which include the 21.2-hectare Smokey Mountain site, 79 hectares of Manila Bay foreshore property, and various financial instruments.
However, in 2018, the Supreme Court upheld a compromise agreement between the NHA and R-II Builders involving a financial settlement of P4 billion assets. The Court also denied the appeals of NHA and HGC, emphasizing that R-II’s lawsuit sought the liquidation of the asset pool and the recovery of residual value.
“With PHILECO and R-II Builders under Romero’s control, this WtE project risks turning Smokey Mountain into a private cash cow,” said Manila Urban Poor Alliance coordinator Mark Cabangon.
Forced displacements, community resistance
Since January this year, residents in Manila port-area communities like Aroma, Happyland, and Smokey Mountain have been pressured by R-II Builders to accept compensation of at least P60,000 in exchange for their displacement.
Meanwhile, in Smokey Mountain, threats of displacement began as early as November 2020 at the height of the pandemic.
“November 2020 pa nagsimula yung demolition sa amin sa may bandang Palitahan na dating tambakan ng mga bakal. May 21 families na naapektuhan noon,” Anora Madrid, a resident of Upper Smokey Mountain, shared.
Two years later, residents of Upper Smokey Mountain were called by Brgy. 128 chairman Sigfred “Bobby” Hernane and informed that they would have to leave the area due to the construction of the Tondominium.
But the Tondominium, located adjacent to the Smokey Mountain area, was only completed in 2022. It is one of the seven flagship housing projects of Manila City, funded through a P10-billion loan from the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP).
“Ang offer po sa amin na financial assistance ay P60,000. Sinasabi na bibigyan daw kami para sa pang-renta ng bahay pagkatapos ng Tondominium at mangungupahan daw muna kami. Mula noon, mayroong mga nagpagiba na, pero kami tinitingnan namin kung totoo yung mga sinasabi. Kaya nagulat nalang kami nung pangalawang meeting na sinasabing mayroon daw pong may-ari sa lupa dahil gagawing waste-to-energy,” Anora lamented.
Adding to the concern was the selective and exclusive nature of the public scoping for the WtE project in Smokey Mountain, initially scheduled for March 5 but later moved to March 12
However, according to Madrid, they were only informed about the project in July during the said consultation called again by Brgy. Chairman Hernane. Madrid also stressed that residents were prohibited from taking photos or videos of the consultation.
“Inexplain po sa amin ni chairman na dadagdagan daw po niya ng P20,000, sa kanya raw po manggagaling iyon, para mas mabilis umalis ang mga tao kasi kailangan na raw,” Madrid added.
In a demolition notice dated August 4, several residents adjacent to Smokey Mountain were instructed to vacate the area, which was labeled a “danger zone.” The notice gave them only seven days to comply.
Under Republic Act 7279 or the Urban Development and Housing Act UDHA, residents of informal settlements are generally entitled to at least 30 days’ notice prior to eviction and must be provided with relocation assistance or adequate alternative housing.
Following issues of harassment and displacement, residents of Upper Smokey Mountain established their organization called Samahan ng Magkakapitbahay sa Upper Smokey Mountain – KADAMAY last August 16.
Since then, the residents trooped to Manila City Hall twice to request a dialogue with Mayor Francisco ‘Isko’ Moreno. However, according to them, they were only being referred between different agencies and departments within the city hall.
“Kaming mga magkakapitbahay, ang tulak lang naman namin ay makipagdayalogo kay Yorme. Sana matulungan niya kami sa issue namin dito. Tingan niya ang pamumuhay namin dito na dinevelop ang Upper Smokey Mountain hindi para babuyin kundi para makatulong din sa aming paghahanapbuhay,” Madrid lamented.
