September 9, 2025
Resilient Filipinos deserve science-based disaster risk reduction measures
Topics: Ban Single-Use Plastics
Every year, Filipinos brace for floods. From Manila to Mindanao, heavy rainfall becomes catastrophic when drainage systems overflow as they are clogged with plastic waste. We’ve normalized the sight of floating sachets, diapers, and shopping bags after every downpour. Behind the mess lies a systemic failure: failed implementation of waste management policies, including the ban of single-use plastics.
Flooding is a result of systemic issues in climate resilience and waste governance. It shows the lack of science-based solutions, accountability measures, and political will.
The 2019 Waste Assessment and Brand Audit (WABA) by GAIA and Mother Earth Foundation shows the impact of ‘sachet economy’ with the country contributing 163 million sachets and 48 million sando bags and 45 million labo (thin film) bags daily. Most of these are neither recyclable nor reusable and often end up in waterways and oceans.
Brand audits are a powerful tool in this fight. The worst plastic polluters are identified, and with strict accountability measures, they should be held responsible for the harm these induce on the people and the environment.
The WABA report notes that brand audit will guide the local government and the communities in developing or strengthening ordinances on the ban of single-use plastics. In Barangay Looc, Dumaguete, one of the pilot Zero Waste communities, a significant majority of household waste was found to be compostable or recyclable.
As Oceana has always put it: turn off the tap to keep the water or the problem from flowing. Address the problem at source. Stop the production of unnecessary single-use plastics.
Plastic harms biodiversity, livelihoods, and the climate at every stage of its lifecycle—releasing toxic emissions, producing microplastics, and indirectly exacerbating ocean acidification through greenhouse gas emissions. The real fix? Reducing plastic production and shifting to reuse and refill systems. Not only is this good for climate and health, it’s also crucial for preventing plastics from choking waterways, especially in flood-prone areas.
The National Solid Waste Management Commission sat on the list of Non-Environmentally Acceptable Products and Packaging (NEAPP). These single-use plastics and packaging should have been banned from manufacturing and importation to consumption and disposal. The Ecological Solid Waste Management Act (RA 9003), passed more than two decades ago, clearly mandates the measure.
WABA findings also show economic benefits. Barangay Looc saved over ₱350,000 in tipping fees by diverting waste from landfills and instead composting and selling recyclables. These savings could be redirected to climate adaptation efforts, not garbage hauling.
Too often, headlines spotlight “Filipino resilience” during floods—residents wading through waist-high water, saving neighbors, starting over. But resilience should not be glorified when it is forced. People deserve protection, not praise for surviving the preventable.
Beach cleanups and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) projects are not enough. Even the Extended Producers Responsibility law has its limits. Anything less is a false or band-aid solution.
It’s time to turn off the plastic tap now. The next time floodwaters rise, they won’t just carry rain: they’ll carry the cost of inaction on the escalating plastic pollution – in destroyed homes, in lost lives.
Call to Action: Protect Our Oceans, Protect Our Rights
The right to a clean ocean and healthy environment is a collective responsibility. Here’s how wavemakers can contribute:
- Reduce your plastic footprint: Choose reusable products, avoid single-use plastics, and practice proper waste segregation.
- Raise awareness: Share information on the implications of plastic pollution and build a broad base of support for change.
- Engage in community action: Participate in or organize environmental education programs for the reduction of single-use plastics.
- Support policy change: Advocate for stronger and stricter implementation of national laws and local policies on reducing plastic waste, single-use plastics bans, and improved waste management systems. The Philippines has good environmental laws in place. They just need to be implemented with utmost political will.
- Hold authorities and corporate polluters accountable: Demand transparency and action from local and national governments regarding environmental protection and call out companies to use environmentally sound alternatives to plastics.
Our oceans sustain us. Protecting them is protecting our health, livelihoods, and dignity. A healthy environment is a human right that belongs to every Filipino.
Together, we can defend our right to a clean, safe, and thriving environment. Let us act now—because the health of our oceans is the health of our people, today and for generations to come.
Stand with us. Protect our oceans. Demand your rights. The time for action is now.