Atty. Gloria Ramos
Hats off to Ecowaste Coalition, the foremost waste and pollution watchdog in our country, for the persistence and determination to mainstream the ecological values and principles behind the much-neglected RA 9003, the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000.
It has been evaluating the implementation of RA 9003 by government agencies, including local government units, many of which miserably fail, as we know. The throw-away mindset still prevails except in areas where there is political will to impose the sanctions set by law, which however proves that the implementation of the law can be done.
Some local authorities are currently being investigated by the Environmental Ombudsman for refusal or failure to perform the mandates of RA 9003.
In this country, it seems that we first have to prove we are serious in our advocacy before getting the serious attention from government that citizens deserve.
Ecowaste Coalition audited the state of material affairs in cemeteries during All Souls’ Day or Undas, in Tagalog. Based on the trash monitoring conducted in 21 public and private cemeteries in Metro Manila and Rizal province, the litter hotspots with mounds of garbage dotting the cemetery streets and alleys were the North Cemetery in Manila City, South Cemetery in Makati City, Loyola Memorial Park in Marikina City and Bagbag Public Cemetery in Quezon City.
Had a similar assessment been conducted in Cebu, and other parts of the country last week, such would have reflected the same outcome of indifference to waste pollution.
For Ecowaste Coalition, the widespread indiscriminate littering in cemeteries and streets is a “mockery” of RA 9003, which “prohibits and penalizes the indiscriminate disposal of waste matters.”
Its national coordinator and a dear friend, Aileen Lucero, expressed the frustration of not a few in saying that “Local governments would have made a killing in just one day if litterbugs were dutifully apprehended and fined. Regrettably, the lax enforcement of R.A. 9003 only encourages individuals to strew garbage around cemeteries, creating unsightly trash heaps and posing health risks.”
RA 9003 is not the only law which languishes in non-implementation state. Name an environmental law and chances are there is inexplicable lethargy among the state agencies in making sure the provisions to protect our natural life support system live up to the full intent of the statute.
P.D. 705, the Revised Forestry Reform Code of 1975, prohibits destruction of mangroves with penal sanction. Why then are we losing them? Who is playing god in allowing the killing of mangroves to make way for dump-and-fill, also known as reclamation, projects?
Under the same law, “No land of the public domain eighteen percent (18%) in slope or over shall be classified as alienable and disposable, nor any forest land fifty percent (50%) in slope or over, as grazing land.”
Why then are there houses in land with 18% in slope and over?
What happened to our Water Code which requires easement in the banks of rivers and streams and the shores of the seas and lakes?
Why are artisanal fisherfolk being displaced in their traditional fishing grounds when the banned commercial fishing under the Fisheries Code is allowed or tolerated by local government units and state agencies or penalized by a measly fine? Certainly, the omission or the practice is not a deterrence to illegal fishing.
Three years after we were warned by the European Union for not doing enough to fight illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, why are there still no implementing rules for vessel monitoring for small and medium sized commercial fishing vessels, administrative adjudication, registration of commercial fishing license, among others, which are required to have been adopted in 2016 under RA 10654 which amended the Fisheries Code?
Why are fish populations in decline and what strong measures have been undertaken to rebuild them?
What is the real status in the quality of our air? Can we already connect the smog in the atmosphere with the recurring respiratory and heart ailments, especially of the suffering children and the senior citizens?
These environmental laws, if fully implemented, are meant to protect and keep healthy our land, air, water, ocean and species they harbor including all of us. By destroying or contaminating them, we have become our own worst enemy.
Our beloved Pilipinas has ratified the Paris Agreement, which means that we are ready to reduce the sources of our pollution in land, air and water called greenhouse gases and take big strides to enhance the resiliency of the natural ecosystems.
We need to do away with the “business-as-usual” mindset. The newly crowned Ms. Earth International, from the Philippines, Karen Ibasco said it best, “The real problem is not climate change. The real problem is us. So we have to rethink our ways to save the Earth.”
For our country racked by human rights abuses including our right to a safe, sustainable, clean and healthy environment, we have to start the process of healing our ailing Earth through a more mindful and daily lessening of our negative impacts and moving fast in ways that sustain it. Avoid single use plastic, prefer healthier organic foods than those wrapped in plastic or styro foams, bring your own container and bag, plant trees, file citizen suit for accountability, and more.
It takes a while to make the shift a lifelong habit, but many will get there.
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