Capulong, Luis Raphael M.

2019-0709

“Ecological Solid Waste Management Act”

Waste management has always been an issue in the Philippines since majority of trash produce by
households and different establishments are not collected, instead ends up polluting the environment.
This major issue in our country was highlighted during the Payatas Dumpsite incident where 250 people
are killed when piles of trash slid down burying the latter. This incident prompted the government to
immediately take action on the issue of waste management plaguing the country. Hence, R.A. 9003 was
enacted.

In my opinion this law would be of great help in managing the waste produce in our country. Since this
law promotes the not only proper segregation of waste but also maximizing the utilization of valuable
resources and encourage resource conservation by recycling, re-using, recovery of materials that could
still be use in order to reduce the waste produce in our country. This law would only see success if
majority of the cities, municipalities and its citizen practiced waste management not only in their
households but also the different establishments, stricter sanctions should be given to those who
violated this law because despite the fact that this law has been around for more than a decade, waste
management still plagued the country, but despite this many cities and municipalities are taking steps to
reduce their waste generation. One of this step is the banning of the use plastics in different cities and
municipalities in our country, but despite this there are still loopholes that are exploited by different
commercial establishments such as allowing the customers to buy plastic bags while claiming that it is
biodegradable. This practice should be condemned by the state since they are profiteering in the said
law. If we really want to make an actual impact in reducing our waste stricter rules should be
implemented and eliminate the loopholes that can be exploited by different corporations.