Hundreds of residents from Smokey Mountain and other barangays in Tondo, along with religious leaders and environmental groups, gathered on September 30 at the San Pablo Apostol Parish Church in Manila to establish the Manila Anti-Incinerator Alliance (MAIA). The gathering, held to mark the Day of Action Against Incineration, aimed to oppose the plan to construct a ₱26-billion waste-to-energy (WTE) incinerator in Barangay 128, Smokey Mountain.

The project is a 100-megawatt WTE incineration plant pushed by Manila Integrated Environment Corp. (MIEC), a company controlled by Phil. Ecology Systems Corp. (PHILECO), owned by businessman Reghis Romero II. It is supported by the Japanese company Kanadevia Corporation and is part of large-scale Port Modernization along the Manila waterfront.

The plant is among the priority projects of the Marcos regime and the Manila local government headed by Isko Moreno. The regime claims that the project will help with flood control by collecting and burning garbage in the city and will promote “renewable energy” in the country.

WTE is a process that converts waste into usable energy through thermal processes. Incinerators utilizing this process produce ash that contains pollutants with carcinogenic chemicals such as dioxin that can endanger communities surrounding the plant.

Beyond health concerns, the project will severely impact an estimated more than 2,000 families or 23,000 residents and vendors, as they will be displaced from their homes. Demolitions in dozens of communities and houses have already started in recent months.

On August 18, Smokey Mountain residents, led by the Samahan ng mga Magkakapitbahay sa Upper Smokey Mountain-Kadamay, protested in front of Manila City Hall to condemn the demolitions. They also denounced the continuing harassment and eviction of residents by R-II Builders, another company owned by Romero.

According to the group, the demolitions took place without genuine consultation, humane relocation, or alternative livelihood. Residents stated that this clearly violates the people’s fundamental rights.

“The country boasts of countless renewable energy projects—extensive massive dams, solar, and wind power projects. But if these projects are controlled only by the wealthy elite, if the public does not benefit from them, and worse, they cause displacement and destruction of livelihoods—this is unjust,” Panatang Luntian coordinator Luntian Niña Fegi said.

She said that sustained resistance and unity among communities and supporting organizations against the Smokey Mountain WTE Incinerator are only just. “We must fight for the people’s right to decent housing, clean air, and environmental justice,” she urged.