Senator Cynthia Villar is rallying the country to celebrate November as “National Environmental Awareness and National Clean Air Month,” saying protecting the environment will save people from disasters and calamities.
“Calamities are an added burden to us. They can make one poorer because all efforts would be futile,” said the head of the Senate committee on the environment, natural resources and climate change.
“Better results would be achieved through more people and groups’ collective efforts geared towards environmental protection,” said Villar who has been opposing projects that could result in environmental degradation.
She has been particularly objecting to reclamation plans along the coast of Manila Bay, which she maintains would be harmful to the Las Pinas-Paranaque Wetland Park, a declared national protected area under Philippines laws. She said those could compromise the livelihood of more than 300,000 fishermen in the nearby communities.
On the problems with plastic waste, Villar has been advocating implementing the extended producer responsibility, a measure being practiced in European nations to limit the use of plastic and asking producers of plastic waste to build recycling facilities for them.
To help reduce plastic waste, the Villar Sipag Foundation has built three facilities nationwide that convert plastic waste into chairs that are being distributed to public schools and farm schools all over the country. In the spirit of EPR, Coca-Cola Beverages Philippines is building a plastic bottles recycling facility in General Trias, Cavite, that will convert plastic bottle waste into new bottles.
“We have a lot of plastic waste here in Metro Manila. When disposed of improperly, they could clog our drainage systems and eventually cause flooding, which in turn could spread diseases,” Villar said.
As to the observance of the National Clean Air Month, Villar says maintaining the air clean should be a part of the “new normal” that the country should adopt following the coronavirus pandemic that the world is experiencing. She cited reports showing that the Philippines’ air quality had dramatically improved since the restrictions on mobility were imposed to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
“We should keep this positive momentum going. It should be part of the new normal we are talking about,” Villar said.
She says she plans to review the implementation of the 21-year old Republic Act 8749 or the Clean Air Act that aims to improve the air quality in the country.
