DID YOU know that January is Zero Waste Month? We’re actually entering its final week. Since it’s the election season, may we ask if national and local candidates for the May 9 polls have considered incorporating Republic Act 9003 into their campaign strategies and platforms?
Known as the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act, the law approved on Jan. 26, 2000 sets the policy and institutional framework for managing solid waste in an ecological, comprehensive and systematic manner that will “ensure the protection of public health and environment.”
The campaign period provides candidates for the more than 18,000 national and local elective posts many opportunities to show their commitment to protecting the environment, which should be a priority for the May 9 polls and beyond.
Implementing RA 9003 during the actual campaign and including it on the candidate and party platforms is a concrete way for candidates to manifest their concern to environmental threats facing our citizens and communities. During the actual campaign, candidates should endeavor to reduce the generation of garbage and prevent the littering, dumping and open burning of waste from caravans, sorties and rallies. These polluting acts are prohibited under RA 9003.
On their campaign platforms, candidates are challenged to signify their support for the adoption of best environmental practices in ecological solid waste management sans incineration in accordance with RA 9003.
Ah yes, do they support to the prohibition on single-use plastics and other non-environmentally acceptable products and packaging materials, the ban on the importation of plastic, hazardous and toxic wastes, the reversal of policy shift favoring waste-to-energy incineration, the ban on the construction of landfills or any disposal facilities on aquifer, groundwater reservoir or watershed area, and the rehabilitation of closed dumpsites, etc.?
As recycling alone would not solve the plastic and microplastic pollution that is already contaminating the ocean and the food chain, we want to hear from candidates their takes on real solutions, including curbing non-essential uses of plastics, banning the use of hazardous chemical additives in plastic production, and imposing extended producer responsibility.
In the face of dire warnings from scientists and activists on the far-reaching effects of the climate and plastic crisis, election candidates must articulate through their campaign platforms, speeches, interviews and social media posts their understanding of the problems and their corresponding solutions.
