Protecting Earth, our common home!

2026 Earth Day theme – “Our Power, Our Planet”- reminds us how we, humans, can unite together, protect our Earth/our common home!

2030 is the deadline for us all throughout the world to limit global warming to 1.5°C or else face the risks of “far more severe climate change impacts, including more frequent/severe droughts/heatwaves/rainfall,” according to the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

A limit of 1.5°C requires “greenhouse gas emissions to peak before 2025 at the latest and decline 43% by 2030.”

However, as of 27 January 2026, only 15 countries met this deadline – less than 8% of the 194 parties that signed the Paris Agreement!

We only have to note the recent situation in Cebu (Metro Manila as well) to know how far away our country is from contributing to global climate action, how necessary, urgent it is for us all to unite, use our power to save ourselves/others, our planet!

According to the Department of the Environment and Natural

Resources - Environmental Management Bureau (EMB), Metro Cebu’s air quality is “now very unhealthy" with the AQ1 (Air Quality Index) rising from “112 Saturday, April 18 to 199 as of 8 a.m. on Sunday, April 19”, of serious concern for all that “may cause throat irritation, coughing, or shortness of breath.”

Very hot weather results in stagnant air which is unable to blow away smoke/vehicle emissions/dust accumulating directly in the air.

Then, the landfills throughout the country (that are in reality dumpsites) also trap methane gas that contributes seriously to global warming as well.

Cardinal Ambo David again asked why such fake landfills are allowed to operate in the light of the recent Navotas landfill fire which EMB said “could have been avoided had the closure plan been properly completed.”

Here are the portions of Cardinal Ambo’s latest post that should urge reflection/action from everyone who genuinely wants to help avert global warming and protect our people/planet Earth:

“Shouldn’t we be asking why (EMB) gave them an ECC (Environmental

Compliance Certificate) in the first place?

Public reporting also says the fire has burned for days, affected nearby communities in Navotas/Malabon/Obando, and that the Bureau of Fire Protection considered ignited methane from decomposing waste, compounded by hot weather, a likely cause. That does not yet prove a methane explosion or substandard construction as a final legal finding—but it certainly raises serious questions about gas control/closure compliance/environmental safety.

The law is also clear that sanitary landfills are supposed to be the final disposal site only for solid waste, eventually, residual wastes—not a substitute for waste segregation/recycling/composting/materials recovery.

The Supreme Court permanently closed the San Mateo landfill, noting

that the site had adversely affected its environs and stressing that water sources

must always be protected.

This year, Cebu’s Binaliw landfill suffered a deadly trash-slide disaster, and in Rodriguez, Rizal, a major landfill operation was suspended after another deadly trash slide. These are not isolated accidents. They are warnings.

So the real questions must now be asked:

Why are landfill projects allowed in low-lying coastal/fishpond areas whose ecological value includes aquaculture/food production/water protection?

If these facilities threaten air/water quality/surrounding communities, can they still honestly be called “sanitary”?

The Clean Water Act prohibits depositing material into waters or allowing substances to seep into soi/subsoil in ways that pollute groundwater, and RA 9003 prohibits landfill construction/operation on aquifers, groundwater reservoirs/ watersheds, and requires conformity with land use plans/ECC rules.

Who can join a complaint?

This is no longer just about garbage (but) about public health/clean air/ clean water/food security/accountability/the right of communities to a balanced/ healthful ecology.

If a landfill poisons the air, endangers the water, displaces aquaculture, becomes a recurring fire/disaster risk, then the public has every right to demand not excuses, but accountability.

Who will join our collective lawsuit?”