Organizer: Graduate Education and Training in Southeast Asia (GETSEA); SUNY/CUNY Southeast Asia Consortium
Type/Location: Virtual
Description:
Join us for a virtual panel discussion exploring the intersections of informal labor, waste flows, and the politics of waste governance. Focusing on the Philippines, the conversation will examine how gaps in governance are often filled by entrepreneurial and community-led efforts—while critiquing emerging policies that marginalize informal workers and reinforce systemic inequities.
Supported by Graduate Education and Training in Southeast Asian Studies, SUNY/CUNY Southeast Asia Consortium, CCNY Sustainability in the Urban Environment Graduate Program, and The UKAI Initiative by Little Manila Queens Bayanihan Arts.
About the Speakers:
Muntinlupa Waste Workers Association
Samahan ng mga Nangangalakal, Namamasura at Advocates para sa Kalikasan
The Muntinlupa Waste Workers Association is a community-based organization made up of waste traders, waste pickers, environmental advocates, and experts on plastics and other materials commonly classified as waste. The association currently has 12 to 15 members from the barangays of Putatan, Bayanan, and Alabang. Together, we aim to build solidarity, promote proper waste management practices, and advocate for recognition and better working conditions for waste workers in Muntinlupa.
Debs Bartolo
Community Development Practitioner and Zero-Waste Advocate
Debs Bartolo is a community development practitioner and zero-waste advocate with a Masters degree in Community Development at the University of the Philippines Diliman. She is the founder of Likha Initiative, a youth-led organization advancing environmental justice and community resilience, and currently advises the Muntinlupa Waste Workers Association. Her work with urban poor communities has been featured by CNN Philippines, Rappler, and PhilStar, where she was recognized as one of 35 young thought leaders in the Philippines.
Liz Fumar
Sustainability Advocate, Educator, and Researcher
Liz Fumar is a sustainability advocate, educator, and researcher. She volunteers for Fashion Revolution Philippines, the local chapter of a global movement that calls for ethical production and consumption in the fashion, textile and garment industry. She is an Economics teacher at the Meridian International Learning Experience in the Senior High School level. She also teaches management courses, including Corporate Social Responsibility and Governance, at the Ramon V. del Rosario College of Business at De La Salle University, where she is also completing her PhD in Business.
Miguel Antonio Santos
Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) policy studies, Capacity Building, Project Coordinator
Miguel Antonio Santos is grounded in interdisciplinary experience in the non-profit sector, capacity building, and academic research. He applies creative-critical insights and adaptive learning in research and project management. He helped form the PRO initiative of the Philippine Business for Social Progress. As the EPR Manager of WWF Philippines, he led the EPR policy studies in the following applied fields: PROs, local research in plastic alternatives, institutionalization of LGU-ENROs, and LGUs and informal waste sector displacement. As PARMS Project Coordinator, he is tasked to handle research in related circular economy fields.
Registration:
To attend the event online, please register here.