Philippine Earth Justice Center, Inc.

16/09/2026

KNOW YOUR WASTE: BIS ECO WARRIORS TAKE ON WABA

What we throw away tells a story—and understanding that story is an important step toward changing how we manage waste.

The Philippine Earth Justice Center (PEJC), together with the Mother Earth Foundation PH, with the support of Plastic Free Pilipinas project of Ecowaste Coalition, conducted a Waste Assessment and Brand Audit (WABA) at Bonbon Integrated School (BIS), with the active participation of the BIS Eco Warriors. Students got hands-on experience in sorting, classifying, weighing, and documenting collected waste, including identifying the brands behind plastic packaging.

More than a waste audit, the activity gave young environmental advocates a closer look at the scale of our plastic problem and the importance of waste reduction, segregation, accountability, and responsible consumption. By involving students directly, environmental education moves beyond the classroom and becomes something they can see, measure, and act on.

PEJC thanks our partners for working with us in building a generation that understands that a zero-waste future begins with informed communities and meaningful action. 🌱♻️

14/09/2026

BRINGING ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE CLOSER TO IP COMMUNITIES 🌿⚖️

Environmental justice must reach communities where they are.

The Philippine Earth Justice Center (PEJC) continues its work of bringing access to environmental justice closer to Indigenous Peoples and local communities, this time in Calauit Island, Palawan.

More than simply bringing legal knowledge to communities, this work begins with listening—understanding their experiences, concerns, and aspirations, and helping ensure that they are empowered to protect their rights, their lands, and the environment that sustains them.

Our heartfelt thanks to UP Visayas Ugnayan ng Pahinungod for being our partner in bringing environmental justice closer to our IP communities. Partnerships like this allow us to bring the law beyond classrooms and offices and into communities where access to justice matters most.

Justice must be accessible. Justice must be grounded in communities. And environmental justice must leave no one behind. 🌱

12/09/2026

Building the Next Generation of Environmental Defenders ⚖️🌱

This morning, the Philippine Earth Justice Center (PEJC) had the opportunity to share our work on Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs) with the Law Student Practitioners of Palawan State University College of Law.

We never get tired of having these conversations with law students. Understanding SLAPPs is not only about learning a legal concept—it is about recognizing how the law can be used against people who speak up, organize, and defend their communities and the environment.

For future lawyers, that understanding matters. We need more members of the legal profession who can recognize when legal processes are being weaponized against public participation—and who are prepared to use the law to protect environmental defenders and communities instead.

Thank you to the Palawan State University College of Law and its Law Student Practitioners for spending your Saturday morning with us and for the engaging discussion.

One law school, one legal clinic, and one future lawyer at a time, we continue building a stronger community of defenders. 💚⚖️

10/09/2026

MANGROVES MATTER IN MANDAUE 🌱

The Philippine Earth Justice Center (PEJC) joined the Mangrove Protection Governing Board of Mandaue City for its 2027 Planning and IRR Workshop, bringing together the different offices and agencies tasked with protecting and managing the city’s mangrove areas.

We began the planning with a simple question: “In one word, what do we want Mandaue’s mangroves to look like ten years from now?” The answers—protected, thriving, restored, abundant, sanctuary, lifeline, livelihood, home—gave the Board a shared vision of what we want for Mandaue.

PEJC Managing Trustee Atty. John Menguito facilitated the planning sessions, guiding the Board through the review of its mandate, identification of existing gaps and challenges, and determination of priorities for 2027.

Atty. Menguito also introduced the Board to PENCAS — the Philippine Ecosystem and Natural Capital Accounting System — and how it can help change the way we understand the value of mangroves. Beyond the trees themselves, mangroves provide coastal protection, support fisheries and biodiversity, store carbon, sustain livelihoods, and deliver ecosystem services that benefit the entire city.

Because mangroves matter in Mandaue—not only for the environment, but for the communities, livelihoods, and future generations that depend on them.

And protecting them requires more than planting. It requires good governance, sound policy, science, enforcement, and institutions working together. 🌿

05/09/2026

🌱 LAUNCHING SWM EXCELLENCE: IT TAKES A COMMUNITY

Today, the Philippine Earth Justice Center (PEJC) proudly led the launch of the Solid Waste Management (SWM) Excellence Program at Bonbon Integrated School, Aloguinsan, Cebu—bringing together the people who can turn environmental commitments into everyday practice.

What made today particularly meaningful was the convergence of the entire community: DepEd officials and teachers, Barangay officials, the PTA, parents, learners, and civil society partners Ecowaste Coalition through the Plastic Free Pilipinas campaign and Mother Earth Foundation PH—all in one space, working toward one goal.

Because proper solid waste management cannot be the responsibility of the school alone. It requires government, families, communities, learners, and civil society working together.

Through the SWM Excellence Program, PEJC hopes to demonstrate that our schools can become models of environmental responsibility—where waste segregation, reduction of single-use plastics, proper resource recovery, and environmental education become part of everyday school life.

And when these practices begin with our children, they do not remain inside the classroom. They reach our homes, our barangays, and eventually our entire community.

Today, we did not simply launch another program.

We brought a community together to build a culture of environmental responsibility—starting with our schools. 🌏💚

Strong schools. Responsible communities. A cleaner future.

31/08/2026

🇵🇭 HAPPY NATIONAL HEROES’ DAY! 🇵🇭

Today, we honor the courage, sacrifices, and unwavering love for country of our national heroes who helped shape the Philippines we know today.

But heroism does not belong only to the pages of history. It lives on in every Filipino who stands for justice, protects our communities, and safeguards our land, seas, and environment for future generations. 🌏💚

May we continue their legacy by choosing courage over indifference and action over silence.

Mabuhay ang mga bayani ng Pilipinas! 🇵🇭
Salute to our heroes, past and present.

28/08/2026

26/08/2026

🌊 Empowering coastal communities through law.

The Philippine Earth Justice Center (PEJC), in partnership with the UP Visayas Ugnayan ng Pahinungod/Oblation Corps and the Municipality of Miagao, conducted the DAMPIG BAYBAY Program: Paralegal Training and Capacity Building for Fisheries Stakeholders at the Miagao Municipal Hall, Iloilo.

The activity brought together fisherfolk and local fisheries stakeholders to strengthen their understanding of environmental and fisheries laws, their rights and responsibilities, and the legal remedies available to communities—including protection against Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs).

At PEJC, we believe that access to environmental justice begins by bringing the law closer to the communities who are on the frontlines of protecting our coasts, seas, and natural resources.

Our gratitude to UPV Ugnayan ng Pahinungod and the Municipality of Miagao for this meaningful partnership and for creating a space where law, community knowledge, and environmental action come together.

Padayon sa pagpanalipod sang aton kadagatan, pangabuhian, kag kinaiyahan. 🌊⚖️

14/08/2026

FROM COMMITMENT TO ACTION: PEJC AND BONBON INTEGRATED SCHOOL IN ALOGUINSAN FORMALIZE PARTNERSHIP FOR SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT

Today, 14 August 2026, the Philippine Earth Justice Center (PEJC) and Bonbon Integrated School (BIS) formally signed a Memorandum of Agreement for the implementation of the Bonbon Integrated School Solid Waste Management Excellence Plan in Bonbon, Aloguinsan, Cebu.

The partnership seeks to help transform BIS into a model of school-based ecological solid waste management, with the school leading implementation and PEJC providing capacity-building, technical assistance, environmental legal education, and support in mobilizing partners.

The MOA was signed by Atty. Roger Rivera, PEJC Policy and Litigation Officer, and Ms. Roselle Macias, School Principal of Bonbon Integrated School.

The signing was immediately followed by a capacity-building session for BIS teachers and personnel, underscoring that meaningful environmental programs begin with informed and empowered educators.

Atty. Rivera discussed Republic Act No. 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act, connecting the law with the everyday responsibilities of schools, teachers, learners, families, and communities. The session also tackled SLAPP suits (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation) and the importance of understanding the legal protections available to citizens and communities who stand up for environmental rights.

This is only the beginning.

Under the partnership, BIS and PEJC will work together on waste assessment, segregation at source, reduction of single-use plastics, resource recovery, composting, environmental education, learner leadership, community participation, monitoring, and other initiatives aimed at building a culture of environmental responsibility.

PEJC will also continue facilitating environmental law and citizenship education through its Green Legal Clinic network, bringing environmental laws such as RA 9003 closer to teachers, learners, parents, and communities.

For PEJC, environmental justice is not learned from laws and policies alone. It must be practiced where people live, learn, and build their communities.

And in Bonbon, we are turning environmental law into environmental action—one classroom, one learner, and one community at a time.

🌱 From law to action. From school to community. For a cleaner, greener, and more sustainable Bonbon.

12/08/2026

Building an Interdisciplinary Partnership for Environmental Justice in BARMM 🌱⚖️

The Philippine Earth Justice Center (PEJC) met with our partners from Mindanao State University–Maguindanao to discuss the next steps in our collaboration under the Green Legal Clinics Program.

This partnership is particularly significant as we strengthen our work in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM)—bringing environmental legal education and access to environmental justice closer to communities in the region.

What makes this collaboration even more promising is its interdisciplinary approach, bringing together law, forestry and environmental studies, and fisheries to respond to environmental challenges from different perspectives.

Joining the discussion from MSU-Maguindanao were Atty. Rojean Romanes of the College of Law; Atty. Chalcedony Aniñon of the Clinical Legal Education Program (CLEP) of the College of Law; Dr. Rowena Benavides, Dean of the College of Forestry and Environmental Studies; and Dr. Ramjie Odin, Dean of the College of Fisheries.

PEJC was represented by Atty. John Menguito and Atty. Roger Rivera.

Our discussion focused on developing concrete activities that will provide law students with meaningful community-based learning while harnessing the expertise of different disciplines to address the unique environmental challenges confronting communities in BARMM and across Mindanao.

Because environmental problems do not exist in silos, neither should our solutions.

From the Visayas to BARMM and the rest of Mindanao, we continue building a network of institutions committed to putting law, science, and communities at the service of environmental justice.

Training future environmental lawyers. Empowering communities. Advancing environmental justice. 🌏💚