27 Nueva Ecija towns ban use of plastic bags

PENARANDA, Nueva Ecija, July 13, 2011-“Bawal ang plastic sa Nueva Ecija (Plastics are a taboo in Nueva Ecija).”

With this, municipal mayors in Nueva Ecija have declared a ban on the use of plastic bags in the province in support of the campaign for environmental protection and the fight against global warming.

Mayor Ferdinand Abesamis, president of the 27-member League of Municipalities of the Philippines-Nueva Ecija chapter, said that the prohibition on the use of plastic bags is contained in LMP-NE Resolution 003-2011 passed during its regular meeting last July 5.

Abesamis said each of the member municipalities will convene their respective sangguniang bayan or municipal councils and enact ordinances parallel to the league resolution.  

Abesamis said the league resolution will be transmitted to the Sangguniang Panlalawigan which will adopt the same and pass an ordinance, including the penalties for violations.

Abesamis said that prior to the passage of the LMP resolution, the ban is now in effect in this town. “We are now enforcing it in Penaranda as part of our environmental plan and in support of the fight against global warming,” he said, adding plastics pose environmental hazards such as flooding because these are hard to dispose of.

“With this resolution, we can really say bawal ang plastic sa Nueva Ecija (plastic is indeed prohibited in Nueva Ecija),” he quipped.

The league, in imposing the ban, took the cue from the city government of Muntinlupa which implemented the plastic bag and styrofoam ban six months ago in order to ease the flooding and reduce the volume of collected garbage.

Muntinlupa City Mayor Alvin San Pedro said that since the ban took effect, the city was spared from flooding at the height of typhoon “Falcon” last month.

In place of plastic bags, consumers now use alternative receptacles to place their groceries such as cardboard boxes, reusable green bags and paper bags made of old newspapers and magazines or the traditional “bayong” (native bags).

According to environmental groups, 12 towns and cities in the country have passed ordinances banning the use of plastic bags. Aside from Muntinlupa, these are Baler, Aurora, Antipolo City and Batangas City, Binan and Los Banos, both in Laguna; Burgos in Pangasinan; Carmona and Imus, both in Cavite; Infanta and Lucban, both in Quezon; and Sta. Barbara, Iloilo.

Sen. Loren Legarda has filed Senate Bill 2759 otherwise known as the Total Plastic Bag Ban Act of 2011 which prohibits groceries, supermarkets, restaurants, fast food chains, department stores and other retail stores and establishments nationwide from using non-biodegradable plastic bags.

Abesamis expressed hope all the five cities in the province – Cabanatuan, Gapan, Munoz, Palayan and San Jose – will also pass local ordinances in support of the campaign. (Jason de Asis)