Attitudes have to change, fast
DAMAK is the most appropriate word to describe how we treat our coastal areas. Damak is Visayan to describe an attitude characterized by neglect and undue lack of concern, but when spoken as a Dabawenyo denotes disdain and disgust.
"Limpyo ang atong hangin pero ang atong dagat hugaw kaayo bago lang mi nag-launch sa bantay dagat. Grabe kadamak ang mga tao, wrapper sa noodles, wrapper sa sachet sa shampoo, wrapper sa candy tanan, naa diha sa dagat (Our air is very clean but our coastal waters are very dirty. We just launched our Bantay Dagat. This attitude is very disgusting, wrappers of noodles and candies, shampoo sachets, all kinds of garbage are in the sea)," Davao City Mayor Sara Z. Duterte-Carpio said in accepting the First Clean Air Award from Clean Air Philippines last November 6, 2017.
On our shores are all kinds of garbage strewn all over and brought in by the rivers from upstream. That's aside from agricultural runoffs and untreated sewage that are not visible to the eye.
This is what prompted Duterte-Carpio to issue an executive order to establish the Bantay Dagat program in which sea patrol volunteers are organized under the Davao Ancillary Services Unit (ASU) to conduct regular coastal clean ups in identified coastal barangays. The local government admits it needs the concerted effort of the community to finally change the way we treat our shores.
These volunteers are the counterpart of the BantayBukid whose role is protecting the forests, particularly the watershed areas and ensure that people are adhering to the national laws and local ordinances in the upland.
Both patrollers are interrelated because what the upland disposed will certainly pass through the waterways and then end up in the coastline. It's not just about making sure that the people on the coastal areas dispose of their solid waste properly, but for those upstream to do the same.
ASU chief Rhodelio Poliquit earlier said that his job is to coordinate with designated barangay captains, councilors, and at the same time, the Davao City Environment and Natural Resources Office (Cenro) for the collection points of the wastes of 26 coastal barangays in the city.
He said that there are 300 Bantay Dagat volunteers recommended by the barangay officials to be part of the patrol team. They will receive an incentive of P500 per Saturday or P2,000 per month from City Mayor’s Office. But if the volunteers will use boats to do their job, they will receive P1,000 per Saturday. With this move, at least the proliferation of garbage floating in the waters of Davao City will be reduced.
Duterte-Carpio meanwhile last October 21 led launching the city’s ‘BantayDagat’ by holding a coastal clean-up at Times Beach, Davao City. During the activity, they gathered hundreds of sacks of trash floating and nestled on the shoreline.
EFFECT ON MARINE SPECIES
On December 18, 2016, a 38-foot juvenile sperm whale made headlines after it was found lifeless off the shore of Barangay Miranda, Babak District of the Island Garden City of Samal (Igacos), Davao del Norte.
The regional office Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR 11) said that a necropsy showed the mammal had many foreign objects lodged including cellophanes, fish nets and hooks, a piece of wood with nail, pieces of ropes, pieces of steel wires, and several pieces of plastics of different shapes and sizes.
“Following the initial report, our impression is because the whale’s stomach has those contents, those caused the sperm whale to be distressed and later succumbed to death,” Fatma Idris, BFAR 11 regional director, said.
This alone tells the public of the adverse effects of improperly discarded solid wastes on marine mammals and the aquatic ecosystem.
She urged residents of coastal areas to dispose their wastes properly.
BFAR also encourages mangrove planting that helps in filtering the waste in the sea and gather this amid their root and branch systems.
Republic Act 9003 or
the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act penalizes those caught littering anywhere. Fines range from P300 to P1,000.
The law also prescribes community service from violators.
But the main implementor of this law is the Department of Interior and Local Government, Idris said. BFAR, the Philippine Coast Guard, and maritime groups are only partner agencies. WATER POLLUTANTS EcoWaste Coalition (EWC) National Head Aileen Lucero, when she graced a weekly forum at SM City Davao, shared that during the eight-day coastal cleanup in Manila Bay along with other national environmental groups like Greenpeace and Mother Earth Foundation they discovered during their assessment that big companies also contribute much to the worsening water pollution which violates the Philippine Clean Water Act of 2004."After eight days, we were able to generate 2,000 to 2,500 tons of waste and 50 percent of it are plastic materials," she said.
The brand auditing of all collected plastic materials showed that two multinational companies, Nestle and Unilever, and an Indonesian manufacturing company of Kopiko were among the top three brands that accumulated most of the plastic wastes in Manila Bay because of their product’s wrapper.
Following that audit, they made a move to reach out to these companies and appeal to them to change the packaging of their products but only Nestle responded to them and assured that they will heed the call in changing the materials used in its product packaging.
"With this problem, we are highly addressing it to the companies. As long as they continuously package their products using plastics, they will continue to become the source of pollution not just in the Philippines but also in the whole world," she said. CHANGE STARTS WITHIN Chinkee Pelino-Golle, acting executive director of Interface Development Interventions (Idis), underscored that the effort of local and national government will be futile if the communities themselves will not practice proper solid waste management at home.
Segregation must become a habit, before garbage and pollution will snuff the life out of our marine environments. Golle added that they have already recommended to the city government the banning of single-use plastics so consumers or companies will prefer to use paper bags. "Example this is a plastic cups [while holding a glass], after our use we will just throw it but if we use reusable glass after this, we will not have garbage," she said.
Key to this is the strict implementation of segregation by the city government. Even the leachate problem the leaking out of garbage juice from the landfill to the river, is but a result of the people's disregard for their garbage.
The lack of understanding of the public and passivity to take part in the call for clean water are the challenges that confronts both the environment advocates and the local government units now. Water is life and without clean water, expect for the worst in the near future. While enjoying the sensational development in the city, the people must not forget that before all these, the environment has been providing our ancestors their sustenance for free.
The people have abused the environment for so long, people by this time should be made to take on an active role in preserving what is left, and rehabilitating what has been destroyed, to sustain an environment that continues to provide and nurture our people up to the next generations. As it is, we are fast killing our environment, we cannot allow that to continue.