Litterbugs: Tougher penalties eyed vs careless pandemic waste disposal

SEN. Imee Marcos moved to impose tougher penalties to avert careless disposal of medical waste amid the lingering Covid-19 pandemic. In a news statement, Marcos aired an appeal Tuesday following reports that “eight children were tested positive for Covid-19 after playing along the seaside of Virac, Catanduanes where used syringes, face masks, antigen test kits, personal protective equipment and vials of blood and urine samples were dumped illegally.”

She cited reports that numerous violations of waste disposal protocols were uncovered by the municipal office of the Department of Environment and Naturalresources(denr)inadiagnostic center in Barangay Concepcion, Virac.

The senator reminded that Republic Act 9003, also known as Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000, require local governments down to the barangay level to “properly collect, recycle, or dispose trash, especially hazardous medical waste.”

Marcos reminded that violators face court cases and heavy penalties, “according to the degree of the hazardous offense.”

She warned that violators face stiff penalties, citing its pertinent provision, which states, “any person who violates Section 48, paragraphs 14 to 16, shall upon conviction be punished with a fine of not less than P100,000 but not more than P1 million.”

Moreover, imprisonment of not less than one year but not more than six years could “come with heavy fines,” she added.

At the same time, Marcos warned the public, especially children, against picking up or playing with medical waste to avoid catching the virus.

Instead, she added, dumping of lifethreatening medical waste should be reported to authorities.

The senator noted that the DENR collects about 1,000 tons of medical waste from hospitals, laboratories and diagnostic centers daily, adding that global analysis of health-care waste by the World Health Organization showed some 87,000 tons of personal protective equipment alone were produced and sold worldwide from March 2020 to November last year.