Articles by Bong S. Sarmiento

Bong S. Sarmiento is a journalist based in the southern Philippines.

Martial law in Mindanao takes deadly toll on land, environmental defenders

by Bong S. Sarmiento 1 October 2019

MINDANAO, Philippines — In September 2006, Victor Danyan looked out over the corporate coffee plantation that had taken over his tribe’s land in the village of Ned, on the southern…

The coast of Freedom Island in Metro Manila teems with trash in this photo taken in 2017. Image courtesy of Greenpeace.

Plastic trash from the ‘sachet economy’ chokes the Philippines’ seas

by Bong S. Sarmiento 9 October 2018

MANILA, Philippines — Freedom Island is drowning in garbage. The last coastal frontier in the Philippine capital provides refuge to migratory birds and a thick mangrove forest there serves as…