Church leaders in the Philippines marked the culmination of the Season of Creation on Wednesday with protests against dirty energy sources and corruption.

They warned that fossil fuel dependence and misuse of public funds are deepening poverty and climate vulnerability.

The Conference of Major Superiors of the Philippines – Justice, Peace, and Integrity of Creation Commission (CMSP-JPICC) said the mobilization was both a lament and a call to action.

“We lament the lives lost in disasters, the corruption that betrays public trust, and the policies that privilege profit over people. But we also rise in protest—raising a cry that echoes,” the religious superiors said.

Meanwhile, more than a hundred Catholic leaders, including CBCP president Cardinal Pablo Virgilio David, Archbishop Victor Bendico of Capiz, and bishops from Marawi, Gumaca, Malaybalay, San Pablo, San Carlos, Talibon, Puerto Princesa, and Kidapawan, signed a joint declaration denouncing “floods of corruption” and “floods of coal and gas.”

“Both [flood control and power issues] expose the same system of oligarchic capture, disregard for the poor, and the sacrifice of the common good for the interests of the powerful,” the declaration read.

The signatories stressed that flood-control projects, designed to safeguard lives, have instead turned into avenues of plunder. They said the country’s electric power system, considered a basic right, has been reduced to a profit-making scheme. 

In both cases, they emphasized, it is the poor who carry the heaviest burden—displaced, neglected, and left increasingly vulnerable to poverty and disasters.

“Those responsible for these crimes against the people must be prosecuted swiftly and without exception… There can be no climate justice without social justice, and no integrity of creation without integrity in governance,” they added. 

Protests, prayer walks, and cultural performances were held in Metro Manila and in provinces including Batangas, Quezon, Semirara Island, Bacolod, Misamis Oriental, Zambales, Eastern Visayas, and Cebu.

Gerry Arances of the Power for People Coalition said 78% of the Philippines’ power generation mix “comes from fossil fuels, dominated by coal and gas. It’s alarming how dependent we are.” 

In Cebu, Sanlakas Secretary General Aaron Pedrosa denounced the country’s reliance on fossil fuels as a form of plunder. 

He argued that taxpayers are not only financing the lavish lifestyles of corrupt officials and contractors behind flood-control projects, but are also fueling the inflated profits of power giants such as Meralco, San Miguel, and Aboitiz, “who boast of billions and billions in earnings every year at the expense of our pockets.” 

Pedrosa warned that this dependence takes a toll not only on consumers but also “at the expense of our environment and people.”

The religious superiors said that silence is “not an option,” adding that the “Gospel demands that public funds and energy resources serve life, not profit; communities, not corporations.”