By PRINCE GOLEZ
Manila Reporter
MANILA — Not quite a fan of plastic bags, Ilongga senator Miriam Defensor–Santiago sought their ban in all retail stores in the country.
“The use of plastic items is environmentally unsafe and also costly,” she stressed. “Plastic bags do not just create visual pollution problems; they are also the cause of major flooding in urban areas since they clog canals and drainages.”
Santiago thus filed Senate Bill 2337, or the Total Ban on Single-use Carryout Bags Act.”
Under the measure, any establishment found violating it will be fine with between P20,000 and P500,000.
Citing a study, “Assessing the Environmental Impacts of Oxo-degradable Plastic Across their Life Cycle” by Loughborough University in England, Santiago said the use of “recyclable and biodegradable plastic bags” still hurt the environment.
“They are still made of petroleum and continue to be hazardous to the environment,” the lawmaker from Iloilo City said.
Retail establishments should be required to provide “reusable bags,” she suggested.
Section 3(d) of the bill defines “reusable bag” as “a bag made of either cotton, sisal, native materials, non-woven fabric or any other machine-washable fabric, that has handles.”
Such bag must not contain toxic materials like “lead or cadmium,” the provision added.
Bangladesh, China, Kenya, and some parts of the Unites States ban plastic bags, Santiago said.
In the Philippines, local governments of Quezon City; Antipolo City; Lucban, Quezon; Los Baños, Laguna; Batangas City; Muntinlupa City; Burgos, Pangasinan; Infanta, Quezon; Biñan, Laguna; Pasig City; Nueva Ecija; and Calamba, Laguna, have enacted ordinances banning plastic bags, she said.
“To help save the environment, it is imperative upon the State to promote the use of reusable bags as alternative to plastic bags,” Santiago said./PN
