Mixed views on move to ban plastic packaging

CEBU, Philippines – The proposed ordinance of Councilor Nestor Archival to ban the use and sale of plastic or styrofoam packaging materials got the support of majority of stakeholders who attended the public hearing of the proposal yesterday.

Only one of the seven stakeholders who spoke before the City Council opposed the proposal, saying it is not the real solution to the problem.

Some Councilors, including Eugenio Faelnar, also contended that plastic bags and wrappers could not be totally banned but can only be regulated.

Councilor Gerardo Carillo also suggested that Archival re-study his proposal, particularly the penalty clause of P5 to P15 for every plastic bag used by customers in department stores.

“Muginansya na man hinoon ang department stores ani,” Carillo said.

The proposed ordinance also penalizes a violator from P1,000 to P5,000 for every offense, but a law student had proposed that a violator should also be required to render community service.

Environmentalists Gloria Estenzo-Ramos and Guadalupe Latonio who favor the proposed measure, meanwhile, said it will help improve the “maintenance” of the environment.

Ramos explained the eight-year-old Ecological Solid Waste Management Act bans the use of plastic and similar kinds of non-biodegradable bags but the same lacks implementation in most local government units.

Latonio distributed materials on how to properly recycle household garbage to those inside the session hall yesterday.

The city’s planning office chief Nigel Paul Villarete and Ermita barangay captain Felicisimo Rupinta, whose territorial jurisdiction includes the Carbon public market, also support the ordinance.

A resident of the city even suggested regulating the use of plastic in selling ice water.

“Most people, after consuming the iced water, just throw it indiscriminately, which easily clogs our drainage system,” the resident said.

Councilor Augustus Pe also shared the same sentiment, saying “Hasol gyud ning plastic bags. Almost 50 percent of the garbage brought to the landfill are plastics. Maoy nakapuno sa landfill kay dili man malata,” Pe said. — Rene U. Borromeo/JMO (THE FREEMAN)