Every Filipino family wants energy security, affordable electricity, and safe communities. President Marcos Jr.’s 2026 SONA spoke to these hopes. The Climate Reality Project Philippines recognizes the administration’s efforts to respond to the energy crisis, improve public transport, and strengthen disaster preparedness. But in a country pummeled by climate impacts, no explicit mention of the climate crisis and climate commitments was made.

The silence on climate leadership was deafening; there was zero mention of updating our Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement. The NDC is meant to be the country’s climate action blueprint for sector-by-sector targets on emissions reduction trajectory in  energy, transport, agriculture, waste, and industries. Without our NDC, the government has no consistent long-term commitment against which to weigh decisions on energy security, infrastructure developments, disaster response, name it all. This absence of our national climate plan is precisely why the Philippines remain reactive to disasters instead of pursuing mitigation and adaptation measures that respond to the realities of Filipino people. 

The same silence on our climate commitments reflects in the shallow response of Oplan Kontra Baha and Ligtas Pinoy Centers. Canal-clearing and infrastructure, though important measures, are not climate adaptation; it is a reactive, corruption-prone band-aid that ignores the same root causes a credible NDC would address. In this era of compounded socioeconomic and environmental crises, actions must go beyond perfunctory clean-up drives and disaster preparedness. The life-threatening impacts of severe flooding, rising sea levels, and intense typhoons brought about by the climate emergency must be tackled decisively at the root.

The President’s recognition of renewable energy points toward the right direction: 60 operational biomass, geothermal, solar, hydro, and wind power plants, 1,700 megawatts of battery storage, and solar-powered Mobile Energy Systems for disaster response already show clean energy delivering real benefits. The government must now put consumers at the center of the energy transition by strengthening the Green Energy Option Program (GEOP), expanding access to the Net Metering Program, and passing the Sariling Kuryente Act. These are practical, people-centered solutions that lower electricity costs, strengthen energy security, and reduce emissions while freeing Filipinos from expensive imported fossil fuels.

While the ASEAN Power Grid can strengthen regional energy cooperation, it cannot achieve long-term energy security in the Philippines without prioritizing upgrades on domestic transmission and generation. That security will be built by harnessing the country’s abundant renewable energy resources and modernizing the power grid, among others.

The government should not divert its attention and resources to nuclear power. With the abundant potential for biomass, geothermal, solar, wind, and hydropower, the Philippines simply does not need it. The country’s clean energy future lies in rapidly scaling proven renewable energy technologies that are faster to build, cheaper to scale, and better suited to the needs of our climate-vulnerable country. Rather than reviving another risky energy system, the government must focus fully on accelerating the renewable energy transition already within reach.

As renewable energy expands, every project must uphold people’s rights and welfare. The government and developers must respect free, prior, and informed consent, prevent land displacement, and ensure host communities equitably share in the benefits of energy development. Likewise, waste-to-energy incineration remains a false solution to the energy crisis. It threatens public health, locks communities into waste generation, and undermines the path to a safer, more affordable, and sustainable zero-waste future. 

However, scaling up renewable energy alone will not lower electricity bills unless the government addresses the power sector’s structural flaws. The President’s call to amend the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) is a start, but reform must remove barriers to renewable energy deployment, strengthen government accountability, protect consumers from high costs, and abolish system loss charges that unfairly burden ordinary Filipinos. These are not technical reforms but matters of climate justice, energy democracy, and economic justice.

As one of the high-emitting sectors, the transport sector necessitates a holistic and urgent transition to low-carbon, people-centered systems. The President’s prioritization of the railway and MRT/LRT is a welcome update, but the heavy reliance on temporary subsidies and fare discounts fails to address our fossil fuel dependence at its source. Even the push for electric vehicles (EV) must be anchored in renewable energy sources and backed by direct government support for struggling public transportation drivers. Glaringly absent as well was the response to the lived realities of millions of Filipinos who walk and cycle daily as their practical response to the skyrocketing oil, gas, and transportation costs. If public transport is to be ‘makatao at makatarungan’, streets must be designed for everyone, not just cars.

Aimee Oliveros, Climate Reality Philippines’ Branch Manager, puts it plainly, “while we support the call to accelerate renewable energy to address the cost and security crises, the climate crisis demands bold pledges, systemic reforms, and true compassion to secure a just future for Filipinos”.

We reiterate that the climate crisis observes no political calendar. The President’s energy security goals crumble without climate justice at the core. Filipino families deserve more than performative measures. Decisive, systemic reform is non-negotiable. The only acceptable response is immediate, concrete action, with the welfare and agency of every Filipino at the center.

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