By Mae Singuay

The Bacolod City council passed a resolution urging all 61 city barangays to strictly implement garbage segregation and collection at source. 

The resolution said under Republic Act (RA) 9003, barangays, being the government’s frontline, are required to develop an ecological solid waste management program, promote waste segregation, implement a segregated collection for biodegradable and non-biodegradable discards, and set up material recovery facilities (MRF).

The ongoing declogging and dredging activities on various waterways in the city revealed the accumulation of plastic waste as a result of indiscriminate dumping, it said.

According to the resolution, the Philippines is considered the third-largest contributor of plastic waste worldwide, contributing to an estimated 0.75 million metric tons every year. 

Dubbed as the “sachet economy,” the country is notorious for irresponsible trash haulers and open dump sites which cause plastic waste to spill into the seas, based on World Bank Market Study for the Philippines: Plastics Circularity Opportunities and Barriers, and East Asia and Pacific Region Marine Plastics Series, the resolution cited.

It also said World Environment Day of the United Nations Environment Programme, held every June 5 since 1973, is a reminder that people’s actions on plastic pollution matter.

World Environment Day is the largest global platform for environmental public outreach and is celebrated by millions of people across the world, the resolution said.

The implementing rules and regulations of RA 9003 states that barangays shall be responsible for the collection, segregation, recycling of biodegradable, recyclable, compostable, and reusable wastes, and MRFs will be established in every barangay or cluster of barangays./MS, WDJ