Duterte in favor of ban on single-use plastic — Palace

MANILA, Philippines — President Duterte may certify as urgent the passage of a measure seeking to ban single-use plastics, Malacañang said yesterday.

Presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo noted that the President is in favor of a ban on the use of plastics, seen as one of the contributors of pollution.

“Let’s see if there are members of (the House) or the Senate who would push for that idea, but it is supported by the President so it won’t be surprising (if he does),” Panelo said in a radio interview.

“The President has floated that idea. It’s for the members of Congress to adopt it, to use their initiative to have that kind of idea bear fruition,” he added.

The President expressed support for a nationwide ban on the use of plastics during a Cabinet meeting last week. The ban, which officials said could mitigate the impact of climate change, would require action by Congress. Senate bills requiring establishments to use reusable materials instead of plastic are pending at the committee level.

Pending the passage of a bill on the use of plastics, Panelo said the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000 should be implemented properly to prevent further damage to the country’s ecology.

The Philippines is the world’s third largest source of plastic pollution, according to a 2015 report by the Ocean Conservancy charity and the McKinsey Center for Business and Environment.