26/04/2026
Earth Day 2026 Statement
Laudato Si Relief Network
April 22, 2026
As we commemorate the 56th Earth Day in 2026, the Laudato Si' Relief Network stands united with communities across Mindanao to affirm our unwavering commitment to protecting lives, upholding human dignity, and caring for our common home.
This year's global theme, "Our Power, Our Planet," resonates deeply with our reality, exposing a stark contradiction: while the world calls for a transition to clean energy, Mindanao is being forced deeper into a fossil fuel trap that threatens our future. The urgency of our situation is quantified by stark realities: with 60% of Mindanao's population currently living below the poverty line and 1.4 million families experiencing hunger, the burden of energy insecurity falls heaviest on the poor. We face a landscape where 500,000 hectares of ancestral land are under threat from mining and agribusiness, including the massive Tampakan Copper-Gold Project which alone endangers 240,000 Blaans and settlers, while the mining industry spans over 948,000 hectares across the region.
The energy crisis in Mindanao is not merely a matter of supply, but of survival and justice. Despite the region's immense renewable potential, the administration has doubled down on coal, approving the Malita Coal-Fired Power Plant in November 2024 and pushing the Davao Therma South 300 MW facility, locking us into decades of carbon dependency. These projects, backed by powerful conglomerates like San Miguel Global Power and AboitizPower, come at a catastrophic cost: they threaten to emit millions of tons of greenhouse gases and heavy metals, directly contradicting global climate goals while failing to address the root causes of our energy poverty. Meanwhile, the proposed Pulangi Dam V, a $800 million hydropower project backed by China, threatens to displace 23 villages and disrupt critical ecosystems, proving that "green" energy projects are often just another form of land grabbing that ignores Indigenous rights.
The human cost is equally devastating; since 2013, approximately 160,000 individuals in Mindanao have been displaced due to conflict and disasters, a figure that swells to over 4.4 million when considering displacement trends from 2017 to 2022, with 83% of these displacements driven by disasters exacerbated by ecological destruction. The tragedy is further compounded by the loss of life, with 134 land defenders killed between 2012 and 2023, many linked to military action, and the recent 2024 Maco landslide claiming 68 lives, a recurring pattern of death linked to extractive industries.
Compounding these crises is the catastrophic failure of flood control infrastructure, a direct result of massive corruption and substandard engineering that has turned seasonal rains into death traps. Recent flooding in Mindanao has exposed how billions of pesos allocated for flood control projects have vanished into the pockets of contractors and officials, leaving communities with "ghost" dams, incomplete dikes, and drainage systems that fail to function when needed most. Investigations into recent disasters reveal that many projects were approved without proper environmental impact assessments or hydrological studies, prioritizing profit over protection, resulting in damages that far exceed the initial construction costs. Instead of mitigating the impact of heavy rains, these poorly constructed or non-existent structures have accelerated soil erosion and siltation, worsening the devastation in low-lying areas and displacing thousands more who were promised safety by the state.
From the devastating landslides in mining-affected areas like Maco and the displacement of Indigenous Lumad and Moro communities due to extractive industries, to the looming threat of a "Super El Niño" that promises further calamities for a region where 57.5% of the population is of working age yet trapped in poverty, the call to action is urgent.
We witness firsthand how man-made destruction, fueled by corruption, negligence, and a misguided energy policy, exacerbates natural disasters, leaving millions in poverty and forcing families from their ancestral domains, yet we also see the resilience of those who defend their lands and forests against corporate greed and state-sanctioned violence.
Guided by the encyclical Laudato Si', we reject the narrative of "development" that equates progress with plunder and fossil fuel dependency. Instead, we champion a future rooted in ecological justice, where the rights of Indigenous peoples are respected, and the environment is protected not as a commodity, but as a sacred trust.
We demand immediate government accountability for the environmental degradation, human rights abuses, the corrupt mismanagement of public funds, and the reckless expansion of coal power that jeopardizes our planet. We call for an end to red-tagging of defenders, the cessation of destructive mining and agribusiness projects, the investigation and prosecution of those responsible for fraudulent flood control schemes, and a genuine energy transition that prioritizes community-owned renewable solutions over corporate profits.
As we move forward, let us remember that our fight for Earth Day is not merely about planting trees or cleaning beaches, but about dismantling the structures of inequality and corruption that drive climate injustice, ensuring that our future is one of healing, solidarity, and true sustainability for all of Mindanao's diverse peoples. #
