Danger. Plastic wastes threaten to engulf the dilapidated material recovery facility of the City of San Fernando in Barangay Lara. Photo by Bong Lacson
CITY OF SAN FERNANDO – The use of plastic bags is now taboo in 27 towns in Nueva Ecija.
This was the consensus arrived at by the mayors of the towns during a recent meeting of the Nueva Ecija chapter of the League of Municipalities of the Philippines (LMP) , headed by its president Penaranda Mayor Ferdinand Abesamis.
Abesamis said the municipal councils of the 27 towns have already either passed or are passing council ordinances prohibiting malls, groceries, supermarkets, fast food restaurants, retail stores, public markets and other such establishments from using non- biodegradable bags.
Nueva Ecija has 29 towns and five cities. It wasn’t immediately clear which two municipalities did not commit to the banning of plastic bags.
While the cities of Cabanatuan, Palayan, San Jose, Munoz, and Gapan have not made any such commitment, Abesamis said he expected officials in the cities to also adopt the ban.
“Instead of plastic bags, we are encouraging the use of cloth, cardboard, and paper bags or other bags made from bio-degradable indigenous mate, Abesamis said.
He noted that some other municipalities in the country have already banned the use of plastic bags, as he cited Antipolo, Biñan and Los Baños in Laguna, Burgos in Pangasinan, Carmona and Imus in Cavite, Infanta and Lucban in Quezon, and Sta. Barbara in Iloilo .
Earlier, Sen. Loren Legarda filed Senate Bill 2759, or the Total Plastic Bag Ban Act of 2011 prohibiting the use of non- biodegradable plastic bags in business establishments.
The bill proposes P10,000 fine for the first offense, P50,000 for the second, and P300,000, as well as cancellation of the business permit, for the third offense.
