The Negrosanon Initiative for Climate and the Environment (NICE) said June 24 that a People’s March for Environmental Justice and Good Governance will be on June 27, from the San Sebastian Cathedral to the Provincial Capitol in Bacolod City.
The march, expected to be participated in by civil society groups, church leaders, workers, and fisherfolk organizations, aims to “amplify urgent calls for environmental protection, climate justice, and transparent, accountable governance as the province enters a new political term”.
At the heart of the protest, dubbed “Kalibutan kag Katawhan Pamatian”, are the voices of communities confronting environmental degradation and exclusion from local decision-making, the environmental conservation organization said in a press release.
These include the worsening ecological and human rights conditions in Candoni due to the palm oil plantation; the Supreme Court ruling allowing commercial fishing within the 15-kilometer municipal waters, threatening small fisherfolk and marine biodiversity; and the DENR’s approval of magnetite mining projects, from Sipalay to Sagay, without proper consultation with local communities, it added.
“This is a moment to remind our leaders that progress must not come at the expense of people and the planet,” Joshua Villalobos of NICE said in the press release. “We demand a government that listens, acts decisively, and upholds justice—for this generation and the next.”
The marchers will carry a People’s Environment Agenda to the gates of the Provincial Capitol, outlining concrete policy demands for the incoming provincial leadership. The document, crafted by grassroots organizations and environmental advocates, envisions a just, participatory, and ecologically balanced Negros, the NICE said.
“We march not just in protest but in hope,” Fr. Julius Espinosa, director of the Caritas Bacolod Social Action Foundation Inc., said. “Hope that our leaders will hear the cry of the Earth and the cry of the poor—and act with conscience and courage.”
The protest is intentionally held a day before Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson’s inauguration, urging him to receive the People’s Agenda in person, give a clear public response, and commit to tangible actions in his new term.
“This is more than a protest,” Villalobos said. “It is a declaration: the people are watching, and they will not be ignored.” ||
