An environmental advocate has endorsed Senate Bill 114 on regulating the use of plastic bags, which pollution has reached epidemic proportions in the Philippines that is now ranked third among top plastic polluters in the world.
In its position paper supporting the bill, Alagaan Natin Inang (ANI) Kalikasan deplored the fact that while plastic was once considered a wonder material, the “untold and unexpected ravages it is causing the planet are no longer tolerable.”
The bill filed by Sen. Maria Lourdes Nancy S. Binay reaffirms President Duterte’s thrust to stamp out the plastic problem initially by months-long sustained clean up of the world-renowned Boracay Island and Manila Bay with Baguio City and Palawan following suit.
The bill ensures that the ban in single-use plastic is not limited to the discretion of the local government units by ensuring that the ban mandated by a law and is applicable all over the country.
“The bill is practical and obvious: no single-use plastics, no epidemic [proportions in plastic pollution],” the group led by Jun Evangelista said.
The bill has also the support of Environment Secretary Roy A. Cimatu, the chairman of the National Solid Waste Management Commission (NSWMC).
NSWMC Resolution 1363 Series of 2020 bans the use of unnecessary single use plastics by the national government, local government units offices and all government controlled offices “as a solid waste avoidance and minimization strategy.”
Plastics have been causing garbage disposal problems. They have clogged Metro Manila’s waterways, even allowing informal settlers living along canals and esteros walk on closed rivers made solid with plastic waste.
Technology harnessed to safely dispose of plastics has proven more detrimental to the world’s air and water environment.
ANI Kalikasan said it has been clearly established by scientific researches that plastic materials have even become unseen by the naked eye.
While it is thought that seas and oceans are plastic-free, fishery researchers have discovered that “microplastic” has found its way into fishes, clams, shellfishes and other marine animals which people consume, making the same microplastic “invades” the human body.
Just like the Covid-19 virus which has no cure yet, current technology has yet to come up with an effective solution to rid the planet of plastic waste, ANI Kalikasan said.
ANI Kalikasan said it was among the first to introduce a Philippine-made fully biodegradable shopping bags, takeout food containers, drinking straws, coffee cups, spoon and fork and sachet to protect the environment.
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