Group: Pax Silica may spur e-waste influx

Environmental groups and civil society coalitions protested the arrival of more than 230 shipping containers of suspected hazardous electronic waste from the United States at the Subic Bay Freeport Zone. The action follows claims by the Environmental Task Force Against Illegal E-Waste Imports to the Philippines (END E-Waste Imports) that the shipments should be returned immediately and that enforcement of the Basel Convention must be stricter to prevent the Philippines from becoming a “dumping ground.” The Task Force previously exposed 234 containers of suspected e-waste and one container of plastic waste entering Subic between March 2025 and June 2026. A Bureau of Customs interagency dialogue on July 6 included SBMA, DENR-EMB, the Department of Justice, the Department of Foreign Affairs, the Office of the Solicitor General, and groups from END E-Waste Imports.