Siquijor leaders seek plastic waste solutions to protect tourism

SIQUIJOR — Local officials and residents are calling for help to address mounting plastic waste, warning that inadequate waste management facilities and strained municipal budgets threaten the island’s environment and tourism industry.

“Ang dami na pong basura na na-generate dito sa Siquijor, particularly single use plastic bottles coming from Coca-Cola, Nature Spring and other companies,” said Lhermie P. Areja, municipal environment and natural resources officer of Siquijor town.

“We have been segregating and collecting their plastics packaging, but now we have nowhere to put them – our recovery facilities have already filled up. Paano po ba iyon makukuha kasi punong-puno na talaga ang LGU. What are we supposed to do, where should we put them?”

The concern brought together local officials, residents, environmental experts and tourists at a multisectoral forum organized by international marine conservation group Oceana to identify practical, lasting solutions.

“To their credit, Siquijor’s local officials have been diligently implementing waste segregation programs at the grassroots level—educating communities, setting up materials recovery facilities, and pushing for discipline at the barangay level. Yet despite these earnest efforts, the sheer volume of single-use plastics flooding the island far exceeds their capacity to deal with and manage them responsibly. Even with segregation in place, the residual plastic waste continues to pile up—a stark testament that no amount of local discipline can fully solve a crisis created by continuing plastics use and production,” said Froilan Grate, executive director of the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives’ Asia Pacific office.

GAIA is a worldwide network of more than 1,000 grassroots groups and organizations in 92 countries working to stop waste incineration and promote zero-waste solutions.

According to Oceana, Siquijor’s local governments have faced rising costs for years in managing waste generated largely by tourists and the fast-moving consumer goods companies supplying them, despite earlier efforts to reduce single-use plastics.

A recent waste assessment and brand audit conducted by the Mother Earth Foundation, Oceana and Break Free from Plastic found that more than 70% of the island’s waste was biodegradable and could be managed through composting and biodigesters, the organizers said.

The audit also identified single-use plastic packaging from Coca-Cola, Philippine Spring Water, which produces Nature Spring; Nestlé; Asia Brewery, whose brands include Absolute and Summit; Universal Robina Corp.; PepsiCo; and Procter & Gamble, or P&G.

Forum participants called on the companies whose packaging was identified to remove their plastic waste from Siquijor.

Republic Act No. 11898, or the Extended Producer Responsibility Act of 2022, requires covered large enterprises that generate plastic packaging waste to implement producer-responsibility programs. It sets a recovery or offset target of 60% of their previous year’s plastic packaging footprint by the end of 2026.

“Yet in practice, islands like Siquijor are routinely overlooked, leaving LGUs to shoulder a financial and logistical burden they were never designed to carry alone—and pushing some to consider costly, high-tech fixes that may do more harm than good, such as thermal Waste to Energy (WTE) facilities,” said Miko Aliño, Asia Pacific program coordinator of the global Break Free from Plastic movement.

Participating agencies and organizations, including parish representatives, civil society groups and academic experts, cautioned local officials against pursuing thermal waste-to-energy incinerators.

Experts at the forum warned that such facilities could saddle local governments with heavy operating costs and debt.

They also warned that toxic emissions and ash could damage the island’s environment and deter tourists whose spending supports its economy.

“By releasing toxic emissions that will impact the health of communities and tourists, WTE incineration will destroy Siquijor’s reputation as an island of healing and traditional healers. The pollution associated with WTE will also persist in the environment and affect generations yet unborn,” said Jorge Emmanuel, a scientist who, according to organizers, has evaluated dozens of waste-to-energy incinerators worldwide.

Drawing on Quezon City’s experience, participants recommended reuse and refill practices and policies tailored to Siquijor’s growing tourism and hospitality sector as a practical, affordable approach that would strengthen local participation.

Quezon City’s Kuha sa Tingi program, developed with Greenpeace Philippines and Impact Hub Manila, allows customers to bring reusable containers to participating sari-sari stores for refills of household products such as liquid detergent, fabric conditioner and dishwashing liquid.

Participants said reuse and refill systems could protect Siquijor’s natural assets, create decent local jobs in tourism, logistics and refilling, and keep investment within the provincial economy.

“With this, our LGU, especially the Office of Environment and Natural Resources, is committed to work with reuse systems,” Areja said.

“Kasi nakita po namin iyan na isa po sa mga solusyon para maiwasan ang pagdagdag ng plastic bottles.”

Siquijor’s tourist arrivals rose about 17%, from 241,529 in 2024 to 282,269 in 2025, according to Krisma Rodriguez, the Department of Tourism’s regional director for the Negros Island Region.

Rodriguez said protecting Siquijor’s unspoiled image was both an environmental and an economic priority.

“A growing tourism economy naturally increases consumption and waste generation. Unless this growth is managed carefully, the very resources that attract visitors can gradually become the casualties of our own success,” Rodriguez said.

“Tourists come here for the beaches and clear waters, not floating sachets and plastic trash. Investing in reuse and refill infrastructure is the surest way to safeguard the beauty of the island, protect local livelihoods, and keep Siquijor competitive as a premier destination,” said Von Hernandez, Oceana’s vice president for the Philippines.

“We urge the immediate institutionalization of reuse and refill systems across the island, transforming the current crisis into an opportunity for Siquijor to lead the way in sustainable island tourism—without bankrupting its people or burning its future,” he added.

Oceana organized the Taking Back Paradise forum in partnership with the Mother Earth Foundation and Break Free from Plastic, with support from the Department of Tourism and GAIA.