AS the Philippines, along with China, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam, earned its uncomplimentary tag as a major plastic waste polluter, a lawmaker has filed a bill imposing a Plastic Bags Deterrence Fee of at least P20, and a heavy fine of up to P500,000 for every single day of violation.
House Bill 7902, authored by Rep. Harlin Neil Abayon III of Aangat Tayo party-list, provides for the phaseout of single-use plastic and phase-in of nontoxic and food-safe reusable plastic for the packaging, presentation, and storage of food and beverages.
Under the measure, manufacturers and importers of personal-care products, cosmetics, detergents and oil products that have micro beads as ingredients, or as part of their packaging shall be given five years to phase out all such products from the Philippine market and from their respective inventories. Other countries have banned these plastic micro beads because they are harmful to marine life.
The bill also bans the release of unrecoverable plastic and rubber balloons into the air; the sale and distribution of single-use plastic at retail and wholesale business establishments; the throwing or disposal of cigarette butts, or any form of plastic waste or matter, and nonbiodegradable substances into the sea and other bodies of water, whether natural or man-made, including sewerage canals of any form; and the sale of personal-care products, cosmetics, detergents, oil-based products and other products containing micro beads.
The bill imposes a P20 fee per reusable plastic bag for deterrence and discouragement purposes at point-of-sale transactions at all retail purchase outlets nationwide.
The measure said such fees charged and collected shall be remitted to the National Treasury and allocated as a special purpose fund for the implementation of plastic waste management programs by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and local government units. The fee shall be adjusted for inflation by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and rounded off to the nearest peso.
The bill requires prominently and strategically displayed warning signage on proper plastics disposal on public utility motor vehicles, and ships and water vessels of any kind, and along riverbanks and coastal areas.
It also mandates the DENR, DTI and Department of the Interior and Local Government to jointly formulate, approve and implement a national policy and implementing rules on redemption, recovery and recycling of reusable plastic products and packaging that includes nontax incentives, “tradeable” credits, and other mechanisms to foster effective compliance.
Stiff penalties
The bill said any person, whether natural or juridical, who commits any of the prohibited shall be fined by the DENR or by any law-enforcement officer, and local government official, in the amount of not less than P10,000, nor more than P500,000 for every day of violation.
The fines prescribed shall be increased by 10 percent every two years to adjust for inflation and to maintain the deterrent function of such fines.
It also penalizes serious and gross negligence by local government units on the proper collection of disposed plastic wastes and garbage on public and private roads within their respective jurisdictions.
The measure said serious negligence of officials at the barangay, municipal, city, provincial and national levels of the responsibility to properly collect and dispose of garbage, especially those along or in waterways and in coastal areas, shall constitute probable cause for the Office of the Ombudsman to motu proprio immediately suspend such officials for three months without pay, allowances and any other kind of remuneration from public funds.
The bill said this three-month suspension by the Ombudsman cannot be appealed.
The measure said gross negligence of officials at the barangay, municipal, city, provincial and national levels of the responsibility to properly collect and dispose of garbage, especially those along or in waterways and in coastal areas, shall constitute probable cause for the Office of the Ombudsman to motu proprio: immediately suspend such officials for six months without pay, allowances and any other kind of remuneration from public funds; and file criminal and administrative charges to remove and ban from the same officials from holding any public office for 10 years.
Meanwhile, any Filipino citizen of voting age convicted of any of the prohibited acts shall lose the right to vote and to be a candidate in the two national and local elections to be held after the date of his or her conviction.
According to Abayon, his proposal seeks to address the plastic waste “plague” that has spread to forests, mountains, farmlands, urban communities and to the country’s rivers, lakes and seas.
“It has become urgently necessary for the enactment of a law designed to create, instill and sustain the habit of caring for the environment and keeping it free from plastic wastes,” he added.
Abayon, citing a joint report entitled Stemming the Tide: Land-based Strategies for a Plastic-free Ocean by the Ocean Conservancy and the McKinsey Center for Business and Environment, said the Philippines, together with China, Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam, has been tagged as a major plastic waste polluter.
He said the Philippines also ranks third in the world on this list of infamy.