The social action arm of the Catholic Church in the Philippines said the leadership transition at the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) must deliver long-delayed justice for communities still suffering from the Verde Island Passage oil spill, three years after the disaster disrupted livelihoods and exposed gaps in environmental protection.
Bishop Gerry Alminaza, president of Caritas Philippines, said fishing communities continue to bear the consequences of what he described as environmental failure.
“Three years after the devastating oil spill in the Verde Island Passage, fishing communities continue to bear the cost of environmental failure. The seas that once sustained them have not fully recovered. Livelihoods remain fragile. Accountability remains uncertain,” he said.
“This anniversary is not a commemoration. It is an indictment of delay.”
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. designated Undersecretary Juan Miguel Cuna as acting DENR secretary and named Secretary Raphael Lotilla as ambassador to the Holy See. Alminaza said the transition must result in action grounded in justice.
“As the [department] undergoes leadership transition, Caritas Philippines calls for decisive action rooted in justice, not symbolism,” he said.
Addressing Lotilla’s appointment to the Vatican post, Alminaza linked the move to the Church’s ecological mission.
“May outgoing Secretary Lotilla find his new post as an opportunity to champion the Catholic Church’s mission of protecting our common home and truly becoming a church of the poor – as has been embodied by the legacies of both Pope Francis and Pope Leo, from Laudato Si’ to Dilexi Te. An opportunity, at the same time, to make good with his duties to the Filipino people after a history of having advanced coal and gas, and of undermining critically biodiverse ecosystems such as the Verde Island Passage,” he said.
Alminaza said the oil spill was not an isolated incident but a crisis that revealed systemic weaknesses in environmental governance.
“We grieve with communities who suffer the lingering effects of the oil spill. Once-abundant seas that sustained their families now yield only a few kilos of fish a day, barely enough to survive. Fisherfolk and their families bear a burden they had no hand in creating – an injustice imposed upon them by fossil fuel companies, and by environmental policy that allowed polluting activities,” he said.
He said accountability and rehabilitation efforts remain incomplete.
“Accountability of erring companies and reparation owed to affected communities remain elusive. At the same time, government bodies responsible for protecting our environment have yet to act on the rehabilitation and long-term protection of the VIP. All this silence makes our cry for justice even louder,” he said.
Alminaza urged the designation of the Verde Island Passage as a protected seascape to ensure long-term protection.
“As stewards of Creation, we bear a moral responsibility to safeguard this irreplaceable marine corridor for the generations to come. A decisive step forward would be the designation of the VIP as a protected seascape, so that we may regain harmony with Creation and uphold the rights of communities,” he said.
He called on Acting Secretary Cuna to uphold the department’s mandate.
“We urge Acting Secretary Cuna to be true to the mandate of the DENR. Uphold justice, accountability, rehabilitation, and long-term protection for the VIP and the Philippines’ biodiversity as a whole,” he said.
Alminaza warned that further delay would deepen the crisis.
“This is a moment for moral courage. When justice is delayed, injustice deepens, and when protection is postponed, another disaster becomes inevitable. The communities of the Verde Island Passage cannot wait another year.”
