’27 percent of Pinoys dispose of garbage by burning’

MANILA, Philippines — One in every four Filipinos burned garbage despite a two-decade-old law prohibiting the open burning of solid waste, according to a survey conducted by Social Weather Stations.

The survey released on July 11 found that 64 percent of 1,200 respondents rely on garbage trucks that collect their garbage, 27 percent burn their garbage, and nine percent bury it in the ground.

Eight percent of respondents dump their garbage in an open pit, and four percent use other methods such as composting, feeding it to animals or throwing garbage into rivers.

In segregating biodegradable from non-biodegradable garbage, 44 percent said they do it “always,” 17 percent “often,” 20 percent “sometimes” and 20 percent “never.”

The Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2001 penalized the open burning of solid waste and the collection of unsorted waste.

A recent Commission on Audit report found that “waste management has continued to be an issue of concern” more than 20 years after the passage of Republic Act 9003.

“This problem worsened further due to the increased production of hazardous and infectious wastes caused by the COVID-19 pandemic,” the audit report released last April stated.