Probe into marine pollution sought

Senator Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara is urging the Senate to investigate in aid of legislation the state and condition of marine pollution in the country that could threaten the country’s marine ecosystem and industry in the long run.

In the Senate Resolution No. 1404 which he filed, Angara said he believes that in lieu of the government’s mandate to protect and promote citizens’ right to health it is imperative that the upper chamber probes the number of plastic wastes and other garbage being dumped into the country’s seas and marine bodies as this has serious implication on nature and environment and in the Philippine’s marine industry.

The senator said the Senate should also look as well into the country’s compliance with several statutes and international treaties and conventions regarding the protection and conservation of environment.

Citing a study published in the February 2015 edition of the Research Journal Science, Angara said poor waste management and littering across the globe added approximately eight (8) million metric tons (MMT) of plastic to the ocean in 2010, posing significant dangers to marine life.

The same study said the Philippines ranked third (3rd) among countries with most plastic wastes dumped into the sea with an estimated 0.28 to 0.75 MMT of plastic wastes, behind China and Indonesia with an estimated 1.32 to 3.53 MMT and 0.48 to 1.29 MMT of plastic wastes, respectively.

“Researchers have warned that with the expected continued increase in the population and increased per capita consumption associated with economic growth, our wastes will continuously grow and absent waste management infrastructure improvements, the cumulative quantity of plastic waste available to enter the marine environment from land is predicted to increase by an order of magnitude by 2025,” Angara said in the explanatory note of his resolution.

The senator said it is incumbent for the Senate to initiate an inquiry since the Philippines is also signatory or a party to a number of international treaties and conventions such as the United Nations (UN) Conference on Environment and Sustainable Development, UN Framework Conventions on Climate Change, Conventions to Combat Biodiversity and Desertification, 1997 Kyoto Protocol, among others.