With a lack of proper waste management facilities, strained municipal budgets, and a growing mountain of plastic waste, local leaders and the community of Siquijor have called for support to address the growing plastic pollution problem now threatening the beauty of the island paradise.
‘A lot of waste has already been generated here in Siquijor, particularly single-use plastic bottles coming from Coca-Cola, Nature’s Spring, and other companies,’ Lhermie P. Areja, Municipal Environment and Natural Resources Officer (MENRO) of the Municipality of Siquijor, said in a statement. ‘We have been segregating and collecting their plastic packaging, but now we have nowhere to put them – our recovery facilities have already filled up. How can that be addressed, because the LGU is already completely overwhelmed?. What are we supposed to do? Where should we put them?’
The question prompted the local officials, community members, environmental experts, and tourists to identify workable, lasting solutions for the island’s waste crisis in a multi-sectoral forum organized by international marine protection group Oceana.
‘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,’ Froilan Grate, Executive Director of Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA) said.
GAIA is a worldwide network of over 1,000 grassroots groups and organizations in 92 countries working to stop waste incineration and promote zero-waste solutions.
For years, the province’s local governments have been burdened with the escalating costs of managing waste generated largely by tourists and the fast-moving consumer goods companies that supply them, despite earlier initiatives to reduce single-use plastics on the island. A recent Waste Assessment and Brand Audit (WABA) conducted by Mother Earth Foundation (MEF), Oceana, and Break Free from Plastic (BFFP) paints a clear picture: while over 70% of the island’s waste is biodegradable and easily addressed through composting and use of biodigesters, a stubborn and visually damaging portion consists of single-use plastic packaging from major corporations like Coca-Cola, Philippine Spring Water (Nature Spring), Nestlé, Asia Brewery (Absolute, Summit), Universal Robina Corporation, PepsiCo, and PandG.
This situation has prompted calls from forum participants to demand that the very companies responsible for the plastic polluting the island be the ones to take their plastic garbage out of Siquijor. Under the country’s Extended Producer Responsibility Act (RA 11898), these companies are legally obligated to collect and divert the plastic packaging they place into the market.
‘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 (BFFP) movement.
Recognizing this dilemma, participating agencies and organizations in the forum, including local parish representatives, civil society organizations, and experts from the academe -offered a sobering but constructive caution against pursuing thermal Waste-to-Energy (WTE) incinerators. Experts advised local officials that such facilities would not only incur crippling operational debt but also risk releasing toxic emissions and ash that could further degrade the island’s pristine environment-ultimately repelling the very tourists who sustain 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 Dr. Jorge Emmanuel, a world-renowned scientist who has evaluated dozens of WTE incinerators from around the world.
Learning from Quezon City’s experience in implementing reuse and refill initiatives, the participants recommended a more practical, affordable, and locally empowering pathway to curb the plastic waste problem: the adoption of reuse and refill practices and policies tailored for Siquijor’s growing tourism and hospitality sector. Unlike incineration, these zero-waste strategies protect the island’s natural assets, generate clean and decent local jobs in tourism, logistics, and refilling, and keep investments circulating within the provincial economy.
‘With this, our LGU, especially the Office of Environment and Natural Resources, is committed to work with reuse systems’ said Areja. ‘Kasi nakita po namin iyan na isa po sa mga solusyon para maiwasan ang pagdagdag ng plastic bottles.’
Siquijor saw a 17% increase in tourists between 2024 to 2025, from 241,529 to 282,269, according to Krisma Rodriguez, Negros Island Regional Director of the Department of Tourism. She emphasized that protecting Siquijor’s unspoiled image is not just an environmental issue but an economic imperative.
‘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,’ said Rodriguez.
‘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, Vice President of Oceana.
‘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.
The forum Taking Back Paradise was organized by Oceana, in partnership with the Mother Earth Foundation and BFFP, with the support of the Department of Tourism and GAIA.