Do-terte Green Wish List for the first 100 days

On June 30, Rodrigo Roa Duterte of Davao City makes history as he’s sworn in as  the 16th President of the Republic of the Philippines.  His landslide victory and phenomenal rise to power have elicited huge expectations from the general public.  Not only is the tough-talking (who often gets into trouble when he opens his mouth) do-or-die Duterte expected to come down on illegal drugs and corruption, the focus of his campaign platform.  He is also expected to take the lead in improving public access to basic services and in ensuring that economic gains benefit the poor and do not add to the destruction of our fragile environment.

The Philippine STAR asked the country’s major environmental alliances — Green Convergence for Safe Food, Healthy Environment and Sustainable Economy, Green Thumb Coalition, EcoWaste Coalition and Kalikasan-Philippine Network for the Environment — for their Do-terte Green Wish List for the first 100 days in office and they were quick to respond with their proposed action plans.

The EcoWaste Coalition presented its Action Agenda on Wastes and Toxics to the incoming Chief Executive through his campaign spokesperson Peter Tiu Laviña last May 18. This was later incorporated into the Green Convergence’s Environmental Agenda Proposals.

If carried out, the 13-point Action Agenda on Wastes and Toxics, says EcoWaste Coalition, will make a big difference as to how the new administration will tackle the nagging, persistent problem with regard to the growing volume and toxicity of wastes generated by our households, institutions, businesses, and industries.

FYI, the projected waste generation nationwide  in 2016 is estimated at 40,087.46 tons per day, according to the National Solid Waste Management Commission. This figure does not include wastes that are illegally shipped into the country in the guise of “recycling,” such as the infamous garbage from Canada.

The equally tough-talking group told Duterte: “Fully appreciative of the broad mandate that you have obtained to lead our country, we hope that your presidency will take swift and decisive action to ensure compliance to our major environmental laws such as the R.A. 9003 (the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act),  R.A. 8749 (the Clean Air Act), R.A. 9275 (the Clean Water Act) and R.A. 10771 (the Green Jobs Act), as well as to ‘The People’s Right to Chemical Safety: A Fifteen-Point Human Rights Agenda’.”

And here’s the 13-point Action Agenda on Wastes and Toxics:

1. Appoint a genuine pro-environment and pro-people Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Secretary with an exemplary track record in environmental protection.

2.  Announce the government’s program to determinedly combat waste and pollution through Zero Waste strategies and practices sans incineration at his first State of the Nation Address (SONA).

3. Convene and chair the first meeting of the National Solid Waste Management Commission (NSWMC), which is under the Office of the President, and set a comprehensive Zero Waste agenda to reduce the volume and toxicity of the country’s waste.

4.  Instruct the DENR  Secretary to take full leadership and responsibility in ensuring that the Zero Waste agenda is put into operation by the entire government machinery.

5.  Order a participatory review and analysis of where the public funds for managing wastes go and recommend priority use of taxpayers’ money to support and advance the Zero Waste agenda.

6.  Ensure the proper release and use of the allocated budget from the General Appropriations Act of 2016 for capacity-building programs towards the effective implementation of Republic Act  9003, the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act.

7.  Make the NSWMC and all its members accountable for the performance of their responsibilities towards the effective enforcement of R.A. 9003, including providing quarterly submission of accomplishment reports that should be publicly available.

8.  Stop all undertakings that are in breach of the incineration ban under R.A. 8749 and R.A. 9003, including the ongoing formulation of “waste-to-energy” guidelines by the NSWMC.

9.   Suspend  the development and implementation of  proposed coal power plants in the pipeline and so-called waste-to-energy facilities. Instead, prioritize the development and mainstreaming of  clean and renewable energy projects to meet the country’s projected energy requirements.

10.  Order the NSWMC to fast track the implementation of the “National Framework and Strategy on the Role of the Informal Sector in Waste Management,” including ensuring the safety of workers handling electronic wastes.

11.  Draw up the government’s legislative agenda for the environment, which should, among others,  include the passage of laws a) banning plastic bags, b) restricting toxic chemicals in packaging,  c) establishing extended producer responsibility for electrical and electronic equipment, and for packaging, and d) ensuring public’s right to know through the Pollutant Release and Transfer Register.

12.  Ensure early ratification and implementation of major multilateral environmental and chemical agreements such as the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, Minamata Convention on Mercury, and the Basel Convention Ban Amendment.

13.  Order the re-export of Canadian garbage back to its origin and initiate policy reforms to effectively block foreign waste dumping in the country, including ratifying the Basel Ban Amendment.

Here’s to a crime-free, corruption-free as well as a waste-free, toxic-free Philippines in the next six years of the Duterte administration!