PMCJ to World Bank: We can’t endure another coal-suffocating year; remediate harms you’ve caused to affected communities now!

Media Communications
Oct 12
3 min read

Quezon City, Philippines — The Philippine Movement for Climate Justice (PMCJ), together with coal-affected communities, held a protest on Oct. 13, 2025 in front of the World Bank (WB) office in Taguig, in light of the WB and International Monetary Fund (IMF) Annual Meetings.

On Oct. 13-17, 2025, the PMCJ will intervene at the WB-IMF Annual Meetings in Washington, DC to echo calls for remedies for communities affected by coal-fired power plants financed by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) through a financial intermediary, Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC). These global elites have long profited from the climate crisis while Filipinos drown in the effects of climate change, poverty, and debt, fueled by rampant corruption.

“The effects of the coal-fired power plant on us here in Cebu are already making us suffer, yet we are met with more suffering by harassment and intimidation. Even after eight years of filing the case, the harms caused by Meralco’s Toledo Power Corporation (TPC) coal plant have never been addressed. Now that we are experiencing even more natural disasters like severe typhoons and earthquakes, what we want is for these deadly projects to be stopped so they won’t cause any more suffering for us,” said Lauro Segarra, president of the Sapangdaku River Community Stakeholders Association, Inc. (SARICOSA)

In April 2025, the homes of many coal-affected communities in Maasim, Sarangani, were demolished. A month before the incident, members of the Sandag clan of the B'laan tribe, represented by the PMCJ, held a dialogue with representatives of Sarangani Energy Corporation (SEC), the operator of the coal-fired power plant, at the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in Koronadal, South Cotabato. This was after the fourth complaint filed by the clan seeking to stop the power plant's operations. They claim that the plant causes cardiovascular and skin diseases among their people, among others.

Disasters like Typhoon Nando, Opong, and other recent supertyphoons, as well as earthquakes and other crises that ravaged the country, are not natural. PMCJ and other climate justice groups have long argued that dirty projects exacerbate the climate crisis to the point of irreparability. The crisis we face is a direct result of a system that prioritizes profit over people and is exacerbated by the systemic corruption within the government.

Billions have been allocated to risk reduction and flood control projects, yet nature's relentless power continually exposes the corruption and ineptitude behind these expenditures. Massive public investment has failed to protect the people, a failure that points directly to the plundering of the national treasury.

“The Global South is bearing the brunt of the climate crisis, yet instead of delivering solutions, the World Bank Group is tied to deepening the problem. The Bank committed to building a world free of poverty on a livable planet, but in the Philippines, we see the opposite. Its dirty investments left communities poorer and their environments barely livable. Every day the World Bank delays justice and remedies for communities means death and destruction. It erodes trust not only in the Philippines but across the world. People now condemn the World Bank for continuously building its so-called progress on sacrificial zones. The world is watching for the World Bank to finally do the right thing -- act with justice and remediate the harms,” said Elle Bartolome, PMCJ senior executive officer for policy, campaigns, and communications.

The Philippines is in grave danger as climate change intensifies the effects of anthropogenic disasters, and this is further exacerbated by financial institutions such as the WB and the IMF. In January 2025, PMCJ and communities denounced IFC for covering up the harms caused by its support for the construction of 10 coal-fired power plants in the Philippines.

“The time is now for a systemic change. That’s what is needed to transform the current condition towards a sustainable world, and this will not happen as long as these global financial institutions fuel the climate crisis. The communities are drowning in floods and in debt. They are inhaling the filth of these coal plants and these institutions. Our call is urgent and clear: Cancel the debts! Deliver the remedies! Push for just transition to clean energy! Pay up, or the people will rightfully get what is theirs. We are now witnessing people in many parts of the world taking matters into their own hands and fighting for their very lives and for future generations. This is reclaiming our common future, and we have nothing anymore to lose,” said Ian Rivera, PMCJ national coordinator. ###

#Remedi8TheHarms #ClimateJusticeNow #StopTheHarm #DeliverTheRemedies #EndCoal