TAKING the cue from Malacañang, opposition Sen. Francis Pangilinan prodded President Duterte to certify an urgent measure that will enable lawmakers to pass the bill totally banning “single-use plastics.”
The senator stressed that a total ban on “importation, manufacture, and use of single-use plastic is an urgent matter and should be done immediately.”
Pangilinan pointed out that the Palace itself sent signals it was “eyeing such a ban.”
In a statement, Pangilinan pleaded for the Palace certification to enable the Senate and the House of Representatives to pass the urgently needed remedial legislation on second and third reading in one sitting, after which it would be promptly submitted to the President for signing into law.
“We appeal to the President to certify the bill as urgent,” the senator said, adding: “The world needs the ban on single-use plastic. And as the Philippines is one of the biggest producers of plastic waste, the world will benefit from such a ban.”
Pangilinan filed Senate Bill 40 as soon as the 18th Congress convened to “phase out single-use plastic products by prohibiting their importation, manufacture, and use in food establishments, stores, markets and retailers.”
He explained that the Single-Use Plastics Regulation and Management Bill aims to “ban the use of all single-use plastics starting one year after the effectivity of the measure and to penalize those who will not enforce it.”
The senator added that “those who will reuse and recycle will receive an incentive.”
According to him, prompt passage of the Single-Use Plastics Regulation and Management Bill will benefit the environment, adding that, “passing the Single-Use Plastics Regulation and Management Bill soon as possible is good for Mother Earth, the future, and our children.”