CLIMATE JUSTICE PULSE
PMCJ Newsletter | January - March 2026
The controversy over corruption related to flood control projects is just the tip of the iceberg in assessing how seriously the Philippine government is responding to the climate crisis. One way to gauge the government’s priorities is to scrutinize its national budget, but it is equally important not to be deceived by the numbers. A billion or trillion pesos is not proof that a country is doing its best to help its people survive the deadly, irreversible impacts of climate change. The revelation of corruption in flood control projects reveals the government's interest in ensuring that taxpayers’ funds are spent ineffectively and inefficiently, masquerading as “climate action".
President Bongbong Marcos calls the 2026 National Budget a people-centered budget, yet the numbers tell a different story. A budget brief from the Congressional Policy and Budget Research Department (CPBRD) showed that infrastructure still commands the highest percentage allocation among the items listed in the table, while the budget for climate action and disaster resilience is staggeringly low. It is also telling that the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) alone received the second-highest allocation with PHP 530.9 billion, a figure that rivals major social sector budgets. Worse, debt service payments surpass them all, consuming over PHP 2 trillion in interest and principal payments. Together, these raise serious questions about whether the government is truly honoring Article XIV, Section 5(5) of the 1987 Philippine Constitution, which mandates the highest budgetary priority for education.
CLIMATE JUSTICE PULSE
PMCJ Newsletter | July - December 2025
The last 28 years have been a period of international negotiations, of science, data, and denial campaigns to delay and bury the irrefutable facts that the Earth’s climate balance has been altered towards warming due to human activities. During the same period of time, anthropogenic carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has doubled. The promise of the 1997 Kyoto Protocol (COP3), which set the blueprint for carbon credits—allowing countries and corporations to trade pollution credits—has failed to stem the escalating global flow of emissions.
Continuation of the broken promises of COP
Carbon credits are tradable certificates or allowances that allow purchasers to compensate for carbon emissions or the equivalent in GHG gases by investing in projects that claim to avoid or reduce emissions. It represents one metric ton of carbon dioxide (CO2) or equivalent gases that have either not been emitted into the atmosphere or have been permanently captured and stored.
PMCJ Newsletter | April-June 2025
In the Philippines, natural gas is seen as a bridge fuel in the Philippine Energy Plan. The recently passed Philippine Natural Gas Industry law aims to transform the country into a liquefied natural gas (LNG) hub in the Asia-Pacific region, which is not a temporary path when it comes to energy transition. Currently, a 504-kilometer pipeline is operational in the Philippines, serving the Malampaya Onshore Facilities that supply the five existing gas-fired power plants in Batangas City. The explosion in Malaysia mirrors similar dangers faced by communities living near and adjacent to these pipelines, aside from the health concerns they have already raised with government agencies.
What happened in Malaysia must be treated as a warning. These must be a wake-up call to the Asian governments that these tragic events could happen under their watch because profits are being prioritized over people and the planet. Communities are already resisting these developments, and the State must heed the people’s demand to end fossil fuels and ensure a rapid, just, and equitable transition of the energy systems.
CLIMATE JUSTICE PULSE
PMCJ Newsletter | January-March 2025
The World Meteorological Organization’s (WMO) State of the Global Climate Report, released this March 2025, revealed that 2024 was the first calendar year to breach the 1.5°C global temperature. The breaching resulted in various implications, as reported in the Sixth Assessment Report (AR6) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which are now experienced by many countries, especially in the Global South.
In the first half of 2024, Southeast Asian countries have suffered extreme weather conditions, such as drought and heat waves. Among these countries, the Philippines reached the highest heat index of 53°C in Iba, Zambales, which was announced and classified by the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) as Extreme Danger. Neighboring regions are experiencing almost the same temperature, prolonging the period of El Niño caused by the climate crisis. This year, as early as March, the country’s heat index already reached the danger classification of PAGASA and is expected to increase in the coming months.
These events affected the daily lives of Southeast Asian countries, bringing limited outdoor activities, suspension of work and classes, water scarcity, rise of heat-related illnesses and deaths such as dengue, heat cramp, heatstroke, and even the explosion of military weapons.