103,000 volunteers, 466,000 kg of trash: PH coastal cleanup sets the bar
More than 103,000 Filipinos rolled up their sleeves last Saturday and cleared 369 coastal areas of over 466,000 kilograms of waste, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) announced on Sunday. The haul from this year's International Coastal Cleanup (ICC) nearly matches last year's recovery, when over 104,000 volunteers collected a similar amount of solid waste.
The nationwide effort brought together national agencies, local government units, communities, businesses, schools, and civic groups. Their mission: pull marine litter from our shores and waterways, and document every piece of it. The DENR National Capital Region, Biodiversity Management Bureau, Environmental Management Bureau, and Manila Bay Coordinating Office led the charge, working hand in hand with regional offices across the archipelago.
What did the cleanup achieve in Metro Manila and beyond?
In Metro Manila alone, more than 36,000 participants hit 11 sites, including Baseco Beach, Manila Bay Dolomite Beach, Manila Ocean Park, the Pasig River in Barangay 836, Las Piñas-Parañaque Wetland Park, SM by the Bay, Tanza Marine Tree Park, Bagumbayan North, Marikina River, Solaire Coast, and ASEANA Business Park.
The trash they hauled tells a familiar story: food wrappers, paper and plastic cups and plates, polystyrene foam containers, and straws and stirrers. But here's the thing, every item was weighed, sorted, and recorded by type. That data becomes a map, showing where marine litter piles up and guiding future waste management efforts where they matter most.
Why is the 'R' of responsibility at the heart of this year's ICC?
Environment Secretary Juan Miguel 'Mitch' T. Cuna put it plainly: 'Our understanding of solid waste management has evolved over the years. But regardless of how many Rs we add to the framework of reuse, reduce, and recycle, there is one R that makes all the others possible: this is our responsibility.'
Cuna stressed that responsibility is the bridge between policy and practice. 'It turns technology into solutions. And it turns individual actions into national progress,' he said.
The ICC also shone a light on the private sector's role. Under the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) Act of 2022, or Republic Act No. 11898, large enterprises known as Obliged Enterprises must join these cleanups. It's corporate responsibility tested on actual ground conditions, not just on paper.
How does this cleanup connect to President Marcos Jr.'s waste management push?
The timing is no accident. The cleanup unfolded as the government moves to strengthen the country's solid waste system. In his 2026 State of the Nation Address, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. called for updating the 25-year-old Ecological Solid Waste Management Act, or Republic Act No. 9003, to embrace modern practices, including waste-to-energy and waste-treatment technologies.
Cuna sees this as a pivotal moment. 'This presents an important opportunity to strengthen our waste management system from segregation and collection to recycling, resource recovery, treatment, and environmentally sound disposal,' he said.
The DENR's direction is clear: not just collecting more waste, but stopping waste from becoming pollution in the first place, and recovering resources that still have life in them.
What can ordinary Filipinos do to sustain this momentum?
Cuna's message lands close to home for every one of us. 'It begins with simple choices to refuse what we do not need, to segregate waste properly, to reuse what we can, and to dispose of what remains responsibly. When millions of Filipinos make responsible choices every day, we create lasting change.'
He closed with a call to renew our commitment: 'So today, as we clean our shores, let us also renew our commitment to prevent waste before it becomes pollution, recover resources instead of discarding them, and make responsible waste management a way of life.'
One day of cleanup moves mountains, but the real fight is in our daily habits. From the smallest sari-sari store to the biggest corporation, responsibility starts with each of us.