Press Release: Almost 9 years since filing of complaint, Non-disclosure, delays fail to dampen community resolve for World Bank accountability, remedies

Quezon City, Philippines — Coal-affected communities, together with the Philippine Movement for Climate Justice (PMCJ), Nuclear-Free Bataan Movement, Clean and Healthy Air for All Batangueños (CABATANG), and other organizations, held a forum on Apr. 13, 2026, coinciding with the first day of this year’s Spring Meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Group (WBG).

It has been nearly a decade since the 19 coal-affected communities together with PMCJ, Recourse, and Inclusive Development International (IDI) filed a complaint against the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private arm of the World Bank. This case shows how IFC’s investment through a financial intermediary, the Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC), fueled the Philippines’ coal boom by financing the construction of these coal plants.

The investigation report of the Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO) confirmed that IFC failed to ensure the application of its own performance standards and effective environmental and social standards to its sub-projects. Its latest monitoring report further exposes that the risks and impacts of these coal plants remain unaddressed.

Communities Still Await Concrete Remedies

“The IFC’s role in these harms and accountability is no longer in dispute. We are well past that. What is required now is concrete remedies for communities that have suffered long enough. There are 186 recommendations from the multi-million-dollar IFC assessments. But not a single meaningful remedy has reached the communities. Worse, communities are also denied the transparency they deserve. This is not only absurd – it is a pattern of denials, delays, and detours that betrays the very principles the World Bank Group claims to uphold,” said Elle Bartolome, PMCJ policy, campaigns, and communications lead.

IDI submitted three requests to access the executive summaries of consultant reports under the IFC Access to Information Policy. This contains the concrete actions needed to be implemented across all coal sites to address the harms, but all of them were denied. The IFC cited an exemption to protect commercially sensitive data, highlighting confidentiality agreements with the RCBC. But RCBC not only objected to sharing these reports but also threatened to sue IFC if they were made public. But the real question is: Why is IFC cowering in the face of these threats?

“Let’s call this for what it really is: a coal cover-up. IFC has both the leverage and the obligation to hold RCBC accountable and release these reports. IFC has reneged on both.  That alone tells us everything. These institutions are not just pointing fingers at each other, but they are deliberately foot-dragging while communities in the Philippines are left on their own to survive. The fuel crisis, deepened by the US-Israeli aggression on Iran, has only worsened that suffering. If these banks believe the people would back down, they are gravely mistaken. We've got nothing more to lose,” Bartolome lamented.

Derek Cabe of NFBM spoke at the forum, “Aside from the ash in the waterways, the declining fish production in Bataan has been harrowing for fishers who relied solely on it to make ends meet. The provincial fishery profile of Bataan reveals a concerning situation that mirrors the timeline of the coal plant’s operations and the concerns communities have repeatedly raised.”

Cabe laid out the data they have collected through the years. “Limay, known for its fish production, has seen a decline in the number of fisherfolk due to the construction of the coal plant, with full-time fishermen dropping from 1,610 in 2021 to only 972 in 2023.”

The 300-Megawatt coal-fired power plant in Limay, Bataan, that Cabe is referring to is just one of the coal plants indirectly supported by the World Bank. Communities in Batangas, Zambales, Iloilo, Davao, Quezon, Lanao Del Norte, Sarangani, and Cebu also suffer the negative impacts.

On Apr. 13-18, 2026, the groups will once again intervene at the WB-IMF Spring Meetings in Washington, DC, to demand that the multilateral bank address the people’s clamor for remedial action.

Call for a ‘One World Bank Group’ Remedy Approach

“In the last two years of directly engaging the World Bank, we have proposed a One World Bank Group Approach to remedies to parallel its approach to investments. This means involving other WBG institutions, such as the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), the bank's public arm, and IFC, along with the Philippine Government, not just in doing business but also in delivering outcomes that remedy the harms caused by financial transactions. While this proposed approach has yielded positive responses, the prolonged injustice suffered by affected communities prods the Bank to do better, act faster, and bolder to end the suffering endured by thousands of Filipinos on the ground,” said Aaron Pedrosa, PMCJ legal team lead, and complainant representative to the WBG meetings.

In October 2025, Pedrosa personally asked WBG during its Annual Meetings, but he received a non-answer from the Bank's managing director.

“As long as children are dying from and have to endure cardiovascular and lung diseases due to these coal plants, fisherfolk are driven away from traditional fishing grounds now earning less than half of what used to be their fish catch, farmers are no longer able to grow our food, and indigenous peoples are deprived of their lands, we will remain undeterred in demanding accountability for the death and destruction suffered by affected communities,” Pedrosa stressed.

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For inquiries, contact:

Sheila Abarra

Senior Media and Communications Officer

Philippine Movement for Climate Justice

mediacommunications@climatejustice.ph

Viber: +639916692356

WhatsApp: +639380898327