Environmental and rights-based groups Greenpeace Philippines, Oxfam Pilipinas, and youth group Tara Kabataan called on the Marcos administration to enact stronger policies holding corporate polluters accountable, after a global survey showed that most Filipinos favor taxes on oil, gas, and coal corporations which are responsible for most of the emissions that exacerbate climate change.
The survey[1] revealed that 84% of Filipinos want financial burdens levied on said companies, as these contribute to “wildfires, floods, droughts” and other health impacts to the public. Said study was run by Dynata and commissioned by Greenpeace International and Oxfam International.
Cheng Pagulayan, Oxfam Pilipinas Climate Justice Portfolio Manager, said “The poll results affirm what we’ve known for a long time: Filipinos have a strong sense of justice and majority support taxing the climate polluters to compensate for the damages they cause. These taxes should rightfully go to the vulnerable communities most impacted by the climate crisis and to supporting community-based renewable energy investments.”[2]
Dynata polled 1,200 Filipinos in May 2025 through computer assisted web-based interviewing and with a ± 2.83% margin of error. The study found that most Filipinos (64%) wanted taxes on oil and gas companies to finance the aid for victims of storms, wildfires, droughts, and floods.
“The results validate the need to make polluters pay, strengthening the need of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to pursue them and demand climate justice,” said Greenpeace Philippines campaigner Jefferson Chua. “The president is quickly running out of reasons to escape his responsibility to the Filipino people. The week before his State of the Nation Address, the International Court of Justice ruled that governments can hold big polluters like fossil fuel corporations responsible for harming future generations. This was during a time when millions of Filipinos were displaced due to flooding caused by multiple consecutive extreme weather events.
“Climate justice should not be just mere rhetoric. The president must go beyond piecemeal solutions to the climate crisis and heed the Filipino people’s demand for justice. He must start the process of litigating oil and gas companies for climate impact damages and immediately call on lawmakers to pass the Climate Accountability (CLIMA) Bill. This is the climate action that we need.”
Filipino consensus on taxing said corporations was higher than the average result across the 13 countries polled, at 81%[3]. Filipino respondents also noted the lack of government action in countering the negative influence of polluting industries and the super rich in state affairs. Besides the Philippines, countries like Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, India, Italy, Kenya, Mexico, South Africa, Spain, UK, USA were also subject to the same survey, garnering similar results.
Among all surveyed countries, the Philippines ranked first in terms of the highest number of respondents (85%) who would support political candidates who prioritize taxing the super rich and polluting corporations such as oil, gas, and coal companies.
A separate rapid attribution study[4] last year found that climate change “supercharged” six consecutive tropical cyclones in the Philippine area of responsibility within the span of over a month—a number which was extremely unusual. The same study likewise revealed that the burning of fossil fuels increased the likelihood of three landfalls by 25% within a year.
“To borrow President Bongbong Marcos’ words from his SONA speech: Mahiya naman kayo sa inyong kapwa Pilipino! The government should act to make climate polluters pay now!” Pagulayan added.
Notes to editors:
[2] Rich polluter profits tax could raise up to $400 billion and help phase out fossil fuels
For requests for interviews and other information, please contact:
James Relativo, Communications Campaigner
Greenpeace Southeast Asia – Philippines
[email protected] | +63919 069 3424
Mari Lea Austria, Communications Officer
Oxfam Pilipinas
[email protected] | +63 998 955 7500