MANILA — An environmental coalition joined protests during President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s fifth State of the Nation Address on Monday, renewing its call for the Philippine government to prevent the country from becoming a destination for hazardous electronic waste from developed countries.

The Environmental Task Force Against Illegal E-Waste Imports to the Philippines (END E-Waste Imports) said it is urging authorities to stop the entry of shipments it describes as illegal and to strengthen enforcement of international rules governing hazardous waste.

Last month, the coalition said it identified 234 containers of suspected electronic waste and one container of plastic waste from the United States that entered the Subic Freeport between March 2025 and June 2026. The group said the shipments violate the Basel Convention, an international treaty regulating the transboundary movement of hazardous waste. The Philippines is a party to the convention, while the United States is not.

The coalition cited Article 4(5) of the Basel Convention, which states that parties shall not permit hazardous waste to be exported to or imported from non-parties. The treaty also describes illegal traffic in hazardous and other wastes as criminal.

The group’s findings prompted the Bureau of Customs to convene an interagency dialogue on July 6 attended by representatives from the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources’ Environmental Management Bureau, the Department of Justice, the Department of Foreign Affairs, the Office of the Solicitor General and environmental organizations. Participants later submitted position papers ahead of further discussions.

Jam Lorenzo, deputy executive director of BAN Toxics and a convener of the coalition, said the reported shipments undermine the country’s environmental regulations and sovereignty.

“The unimpeded entry of e-waste into Subic infringes upon our country’s regulatory authority over our territory,” Lorenzo said in a statement. “Such activities run contrary to the state policy of safeguarding the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and environmental protection embodied in our Constitution.”

Lorenzo also welcomed a recent Bureau of Customs action to block the entry of three additional containers of suspected electronic waste from the United States after receiving an alert from the Basel Action Network on July 17. According to news reports, the containers arrived aboard the MV Tokyo Express on July 22 and were declared as scrap copper.

“We welcome this initial move by the BOC, but it cannot stop here,” Lorenzo said, calling on other government agencies to take similar action and urging U.S. authorities to prevent exporters from shipping waste to the Philippines.

The coalition also urged Congress and Marcos to ratify the Basel Ban Amendment, which would prohibit parties listed under Annex VII of the Basel Convention, including OECD member states that are parties to the treaty, the European Union and Liechtenstein, from exporting hazardous waste to developing countries.

In addition, the group opposed any bilateral agreement between the Philippines and the United States that would allow hazardous waste trade under Article 11 of the Basel Convention, which permits trade with non-parties only under separate agreements that provide an equivalent level of environmental protection. The coalition said it is concerned about reported efforts to pursue such an arrangement.

During the protest program organized by the Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment before the president’s address, the coalition also raised concerns about the proposed Pax Silica initiative.

The group said the project could increase imports of electronic waste under programs promoting the recovery of critical minerals or “urban mining.” It said the government should instead prioritize managing domestically generated electronic waste and expanding environmentally sound recycling infrastructure in the country. (Ang Pahayagan Reportorial Team