After President Rodrigo Duterte floated the idea of a nationwide ban on single-use plastics, Malacañang on Monday said it expects local government units to follow suit.
This came after the Quezon City council decided to prohibit restaurants and hotels from distributing single-use plastics and disposable materials including styrofoam, soaps and shampoos placed in sachets and single-use containers, starting next year.
The ordinance seeks to reduce waste and promote sustainable development in Quezon City.
“The President has not yet said anything. But I suppose all local governments would follow suit, since the President has already made a stand on that,” Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo said in a Palace briefing.
In November, Duterte said he is mulling a nationwide plastic ban during the 43rd Cabinet meeting in response to environmental problems, even as he recognized that his plan would require legislative action.
Panelo said it was up to lawmakers to pursue the passage of a bill seeking a ban on single-use plastic products in the country.
“That depends on the members of Congress. The President has already made a definitive stand on that. All they have to do is pursue that line,” he said.
Two measures seeking the prohibition of single-use plastics have been filed by Senators Cynthia Villar and Francis Pangilinan, but these proposals were still pending at the committee level.
Both bills seek to ban food establishments, stores, markets, and retailers from issuing single-use plastics.
Single-use plastics include items such as grocery bags, food packaging, films and bags, manufacturing water bottles, straws, stirrers, containers, Styrofoam, cups, sachets and plastic cutlery.
Filipinos use nearly 48 million shopping bags daily; 16.5 billion smaller, thinner, and transparent plastic bags yearly; and 60 billion sachets annually, according to non-government organization Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives.
The Philippines is the third biggest source of plastic dumped in the world’s oceans, following China and Indonesia, a 2015 report stated.
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization has also warned that by 2050, there will be more plastic than fish in the ocean, if plastic pollution remains unaddressed.
