Metro Manila facing ‘garbage crisis’ – DENR

By Xianne Arcangel, CNN Philippines, 5 Dec 2019

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, December 5) — Metro Manila is in the middle of a “garbage crisis,” the country’s environment chief bared Thursday.

Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu sounded the alarm on the country’s waste problem, pointing out that Metro Manila surpassed the baseline on the volume of solid waste generated this year.

“The target estimated waste generation baseline for 2019 of 58,112.31 cubic meters has already been surpassed,” he said in a forum.

San Juan is dirtiest river

Cimatu stressed that San Juan River has become the “dirtiest river” in the metro.

“Ang pinakamadumi na river is the San Juan River. Tingnan mo na lang sa kulay ng tubig. If you’re in the Pasig River, iba ang kulay, dito kulay ng tubig, sa San Juan iba,” he said.

[Translation: San Juan River is the dirtiest river. Just look at the color of the water. If you’re in the Pasig River, the color is different, and if you look at San Juan river, it’s also different.]

Cimatu said the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) will start the cleanup of San Juan River, which connects to the much larger Pasig River.

The environment chief pointed to the “cultural problem” of informal settlers throwing their waste in places which clog the waterways.

“We have to put a concrete fence between the river and informal settlers. It’s a culture, behavior problem because, despite our warning to them don’t throw anything in the [water], nandiyan na naman (it’s there again),” Cimatu said.

DENR to issue order banning single-use plastics soon

Meanwhile, Cimatu also noted that they are in the process of completing the department order banning the use of single-use plastic nationwide.

The Philippines is the third highest source of ocean plastic pollution, with an “estimated 2.7 million metric tons of plastic waste,” Cimatu said.

The local government of Quezon City has recently passed an ordinance banning the use of single-use plastics and disposable packaging materilas in hotels and restaurants.

Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko” Moreno also says the city is open to passing a similar ordinance in the future, but he emphasized that residents must first be encouraged to recycle plastic waste.

“We can study it as an option, but for the meantime, what we should be doing is doing our job by implementing those existing laws,” he said.