Batangueños march against fossil gas on World Envi Day

Quezon City, Philippines — On Jun. 5, 2026, World Environment Day, Batangueños once again took to the streets to demand action from the provincial government and those who are mandated to protect the environment. The rampant development of the fossil gas industry in Batangas shows the continued bias to fossil fuel interests over the community’s demand for safety, protection, accountability, and clean energy. 

With the Philippines heading into a climate crisis-driven Super El Niño later this year, communities worldwide brace for yet another dangerous heat wave and intensified typhoons. While communities are reeling from these impacts, gas prices are skyrocketing due to the war in West Asia (Middle East), compounding the challenges already faced by burdened households due to higher costs of electricity and basic needs. But the country has yet to address calls from communities living near fossil fuel plants to phase out and transition to cleaner, safer energy sources. 

“What we are fighting for here are our lives and our homes,” said Leth Casao, from Clean And Healthy Air for All Batangueños (CABATANG). “These fossil fuel plants and facilities claim to be clean and responsible, but in reality, they are causing so much sickness and harm to our community. Two coal plants coat Calaca in coal ash, and four gas plants alter water topography and reduce fishing yields due to the frequency of ships sailing to and from ports. There are also potential direct threats posed by LNG plants in the Verde Island Passage (VIP), one of the world's richest ecosystems in terms of biodiversity. We can’t allow these to continue because they have done enough damage. Building even more of these fossil fuel plants destroys our seas and our lands and further drives us into poverty,” Casao lamented.

Larry Pascua, senior energy officer of the Philippine Movement for Climate Justice (PMCJ), said that the recent approximately 80% uptick in LNG prices worldwide due to the oil crisis has proven that LNG is neither a reliable nor a sustainable fuel for development. “LNG is still expensive compared to harnessing the free and virtually unlimited energy we can harness from  renewable energy.”

Pascua added, “Furthermore, we have been constantly repeating that dressing up fossil gas as a transition fuel and a cleaner alternative to coal is a clown show of clinging on to fossil fuels. The blockade in the Strait of Hormuz and the bombing of the gas facilities in Qatar and the UAE have reportedly cut around 20% of the worldwide supply of fossil gas. It is foolish to risk our already-lacking climate targets on such a volatile source of energy, especially when the country is ripe with potential for renewable energy.”

Ian Rivera, PMCJ national coordinator, said that in the context of the climate crisis, methane has proven to be worse than carbon dioxide in trapping heat in the atmosphere and causing hotter climates.

“The Climate and Clean Air Coalition reported that methane’s warming impact is 86 times that of carbon dioxide and has an atmospheric lifetime of 12 years. If this is a transition fuel, we are transitioning to a level of climate crisis far worse than we are already heading to. We need to move away from fossil fuels immediately,” Rivera warned. 

Also among the calls brought by the communities in Lobo, Batangas were opposition to the Pryce Gas Project, an LPG facility being built in Brgy. Talahib, which did not undergo proper public consultation. Previously, residents of Lobo, along with other groups, protested in front of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) against the project's construction.

Rivera added that the people of Batangas are facing multiple challenges brought about by fossil fuels. While the health of the communities is assaulted by both the coal plants in Calaca and the gas plants lining the shores of Batangas City, and now the construction of Pryce Gas’s LPG facility in Lobo, the people of Batangas remain firm in their fight against fossil fuels to protect their communities and the environment. Following last year's wins in stopping the Ayala and VIRES fossil gas projects, the community is in high spirits as they fight for their health and safety.

Rivera concluded, “Fossil fuel phaseout must be the priority in any meaningful action towards environmental protection and preservation. There is no bigger threat and no greater motive of greed above nature than the system the fossil fuel industry is perpetuating and benefiting from. The only way our environment survives is for us to move away from fossil fuels and change the system that preserves it.” ###

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For inquiries, contact:

Christian John P. Argallon

Junior Media and Communications Officer

Philippine Movement for Climate Justice

Email: cjargallon.comms@climatejustice.ph

For other PMCJ-related concerns, contact:

Sheila Abarra

Senior Media and Communications Officer

Philippine Movement for Climate Justice

mediacommunications@climatejustice.ph

Viber: +63-991-669-2356

WhatsApp: +63-938-089-8327