Oceana lauds DILG on poll waste issue

INTERNATIONAL advocacy organization Oceana lauded the advisory issued by the Department of the Interior and Local Government, reminding candidates and their supporters on the proper disposal and management of waste generated from the electoral campaign sorties.

“Now that the campaign and the elections are done, we reiterate the shared responsibilities of local government units (LGUs), national government agencies and other stakeholders under the law, RA (Republic Act) 9003, the ‘Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000,’” Gloria Estenzo Ramos, Oceana vice president, said in a statement on Friday.

“Foremost of these are the safeguards against illegal dumping and burning, and to come up with strategies and initiatives to upcycle the waste from campaign materials,” she added.

The marine conservation group lamented the more than two decades of refusal and failure of the government to fully implement a very progressive law in RA 9003 to sustainably deal with solid waste management.

Oceana also raised alarm on the plan of some LGUs and government agencies to partner with cement kilns and waste-toenergy facilities.

The Philippines is the first and remains the only country to ban incineration under RA 8749, or the “Philippine Clean Air Act.”

“We trust that local government officials and national government agency heads, particularly the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, will take the necessary steps to perform the mandate given to them by the law to instill the hierarchy of ecological values in waste management,” Ramos said.