The Environmental Task Force Against Illegal E-Waste Imports to the Philippines (END E-Waste Imports) has joined protests during the fifth State of the Nation Address of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., extending calls on the Philippine government to ensure that the country does not turn into a dumping ground for hazardous e-waste from countries in the global north.
Last month, the Task Force exposed the shipment of 234 containers of suspected e-waste and one container of plastic waste from the United States, which entered the Subic Freeport between March 2025 and June 2026. The group has asserted that the US shipments are illegal and constitute a criminal act under the Basel Convention, a global environmental treaty designed to combat toxic waste trade, to which the Philippines is a signatory and the US is not. Article 4(5) of the treaty states that “A Party shall not permit hazardous wastes or other wastes to be exported to a non-Party or to be imported from a non-Party.” Article 4 also states that “illegal traffic in hazardous wastes or other wastes is criminal.”
The exposé has prompted the Bureau of Customs (BOC) to call for an Interagency Dialogue on July 6, 2026, which was attended by the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA), the Department of Environment and Natural Resources-Environmental Management Bureau (DENR-EMB), the Department of Justice, the Department of Foreign Affairs, the Office of the Solicitor General, and environmental groups from END E-Waste Imports. Participants in the dialogue have since submitted position papers before reconvening.
According to Jam Lorenzo, Deputy Executive Director of BAN Toxics and one of the conveners of the Task Force, the toxic shipments reek of utter disregard of the country’s environmental governance and sovereignty. “The unimpeded entry of e-waste into Subic infringes upon our country’s regulatory authority over our territory. Such activities run contrary to the State policy of safeguarding the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and environmental protection embodied in our constitution,” Lorenzo added.
Meanwhile, Lorenzo has welcomed the BOC for taking action against a fresh batch of suspected e-waste shipments from the US. Following an alert sent by waste trade watchdog Basel Action Network last July 17, the BOC blocked the entry of three containers. The containers, which arrived aboard the MV Tokyo Express on July 22, were declared as scrap copper from the US, according to news reports.
“We welcome this initial move by the BOC, but it cannot stop here. Other concerned regulatory agencies must follow suit, without delay. President Marcos still stands at the Rubicon. Will he cross it for the people, or retreat for US interests? US authorities must respect our national sovereignty and stop exporters from dumping their waste in our country,” Lorenzo said.
The group is also calling on Congress and President Marcos Jr. to ratify the long-overdue Basel Ban Amendment, which would prohibit Annex VII Parties to the Basel Convention—including OECD member countries that are Parties to the Convention, the European Union, and Liechtenstein—from exporting hazardous waste to developing countries like the Philippines.
The Task Force also pushed back against any potential bilateral agreement between the US and the Philippines that would legalize the e-waste trade, urging authorities to prevent it. Under Article 11 of the Basel Convention, trade in hazardous waste with non-Parties is generally prohibited unless covered by a separate bilateral, multilateral, or regional agreement that provides an equivalent level of environmental protection. The group warned of efforts by US lobbyists and the SBMA pushing for such an agreement.
During the SONA protest program in the morning led by the Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment, the Task Force raised concerns over how the planned Pax Silica initiative might give way to an influx of more imported e-waste under the pretense of critical minerals recovery or “urban mining.” The group says the Philippine government should prioritize the management of domestic e-waste and the strengthening of environmentally sound recycling technologies and infrastructure that will serve the country’s own waste issues.
“A critical question here is, whose interest will the Pax Silica initiative really serve? Is it for the Filipino people and the environment, or for foreign business interests? We shall continue to rally for our people and the environment over profit,” Lorenzo said. #
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For more information:
Thony Dizon | Advocacy Officer, BAN Toxics
0917-832-2616 | tdizon@bantoxics.org
