The social action arm of the Catholic Church in the Philippines said President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s energy agenda cannot solve the country’s power crisis without confronting climate change, reducing dependence on imported fossil fuels, and overhauling the law governing the electricity sector.
Bishop Gerardo Alminaza of San Carlos, president of Caritas Philippines, said Marcos’ fifth State of the Nation Address left “one chair conspicuously empty at the national table: the environment”.
Marcos did not address the climate crisis, destructive mining, or communities threatened by the continued expansion of fossil fuel infrastructure, Alminaza said.
The prelate said that omission came as Filipino families faced some of the highest electricity rates in Southeast Asia while enduring stronger storms, floods, droughts, and the loss of farms, fishing grounds, and livelihoods.
“For millions of Filipinos, the environmental crisis is no longer merely ecological. It is economic, social, and deeply human,” the bishop said.
Alminaza welcomed Marcos’ call to remove system loss charges from electricity bills, saying consumers should not be made to pay for losses they did not cause.
But he said the proposal addressed only part of the country’s energy crisis.
“This is a demand they (public) have raised for decades. It cannot be presented as a sufficient response to the energy crisis,” Alminaza said.
The heavier burden on consumers comes from high generation costs and the country’s dependence on imported coal and gas, he said.
Under the Electric Power Industry Reform Act, or EPIRA, these costs are passed on to consumers while power companies are shielded from fuel price increases and supply disruptions, according to Alminaza.
“EPIRA must not be amended only to remove systems loss charges. The entire policy and regulatory framework governing electricity needs to be overhauled,” he added.
Alminaza said the law had failed to deliver affordable and reliable power after 25 years and had increasingly treated electricity “as a commodity for private profit rather than as an essential public service and a common good.”
The bishop welcomed the president’s support for easier access to rooftop solar and battery storage. He said the proposed Sariling Kuryente Act could help families and communities produce their own electricity, particularly during disasters and power interruptions.
“This is where public investment, regulatory reform, and political leadership should be directed,” he said.
Alminaza warned, however, that the initiative would lose its meaning if the administration continued to promote dirty energy sources, expand fossil gas infrastructure, and revive nuclear power.
“Fossil gas is not clean energy,” he said.
More gas terminals and power plants would deepen dependence on imported fuel, expose consumers to unstable prices, and lock the country into decades of fossil fuel use, Alminaza said.
He also rejected nuclear power as a practical response to the electricity crisis, citing its cost and concerns over safety, radioactive waste, public debt, and accountability.
Public concerns “should not be dismissed as mere misunderstanding,” he said, adding that they require transparent, independent and participatory scrutiny because the risks, costs and long-term consequences will affect generations to come.
Alminaza also warned that renewable energy projects should not be considered just or sustainable simply because they carry the renewable label.
Such projects must not destroy forests, watersheds, and biodiversity; displace Indigenous Peoples, farmers, fisherfolk, and other communities; or place the country’s energy future under the control of a few large corporations, he said.
“The transition to clean energy cannot become an excuse for sacrificing ancestral domains, forests, watersheds, farms, fishing grounds, and community rights through destructive mining and mineral extraction,” Alminaza said.
The bishop said environmental protection could not be separated from the struggle against poverty.
“For Caritas, care for creation is never separate from care for the poor. The ecological crisis and the crisis of poverty are one human crisis that demands an integral response,” he said.
“The environment must no longer be the empty chair at our national table. Caring for creation is not a peripheral concern. It is inseparable from protecting life, securing justice, and building a future worthy of every Filipino,” he added.
