Tambuling Batangas Publication November 07-13, 2018 Issue | Page 5

OPINYON
November 7-13, 2018
Plastic Pollution: Still a big thing?
By PIA-DCU
IN the midst of the 21st century,
plastic pollution became a noticeable
issue. This was when a single speck
of translucent non-heavy material
was seen, floating around the waters,
by the fishermen.

Plastic are used to
create useful materials for human
consumption. The most common are
the plastic bags. Plastic is also used
to make toys, sports equipment, food
packaging, candy wrappers, plastic
straws, bottles for any drinkable
liquid substances, etc.

There are many types of
plastic such as the PET (Polythylene
Terephthalate), LPDE (Low-density
Polythylene), PP (Polypropylene), PS
(Polystyrene), and EPS (Expanded
Polystyrene). Due to the plastic’s
light weight, smooth surface, and
flexibility, it can be turned into any
shape. This makes it possible for most
product factories to create something
useful out of it.
Despite its usefulness, people’s
way of disposing plastics became a
problem. Littering is one of the most
common illegal acts that can be done
by a human being. It is an act of
throwing rubbish or waste products
and letting it lie around places,
making its physical outlook untidy.

There are many countries
that strongly prohibits or bans
littering, such as Kenya, Bangladesh,
Morocco, Tasmania, South Australia,
England, Germany, Hawaii, New
York, Argentina, Brazil, Wales,
Seattle, South Africa, Uganda, and
many more. These countries have
already dealt with plastic bag issues.

There are some countries,
however, that are yet to deal with
the plastic pollution issue, such
as Thailand, Vietnam, Egypt, and
China. According to the Earth
Day Network’s statistics in 2018,
Philippines is ranked as the third
largest contributor of plastic waste
to global waters, after Indonesia and
China. Another report from the UN
Environment stated that there were
five countries that have contributed
much to pollution such as China,
Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, and
Vietnam.

The Philippines is now
Tacloban... five years
after ‘Yolanda’
By Venus May H. Sarmiento
“When will stories about Yolanda
end?”
FIVE years ago, the city of
Tacloban and towns in the first
District of Leyte captured the
world’s attention when super
typhoon
Yolanda
(Haiyan)
battered this Eastern Visayas area
and literally left the place to its
knees.

Weeks and months after
that gloomy day, darkness still
blanketed the city as electricity
was down. Even when a mass
burial of all dead bodies was
already conducted, the stench
of death still lingered in the
devastated province.

That was five years ago.
But whenever you get to talk to
true-blue Leytenos, it only seems
like yesterday.

Tacloban City Disaster
Risk Reduction and Management
Officer Ildebrando Bernadan said
Yolanda has taught them lessons
and changed the mindset of
Taclobanons.

“Before Yolanda, people
just leave everything up to fate.
When Yolanda occurred, they
began to adhere to early warnings.
They now believed in Science,”
Brendan said.
The
disaster
management chief said pre-
empted evacuation has been
ordered in all 138 barangays of
the city because of the perceived
strength of Yolanda. But a day
before Yolanda was expected to
make a landfall, the weather was
fine prompting many heads of
families to go back to their houses
and see if their belongings are
still intact.

The seemingly good
weather at first, innate sense
of “wala pa yan” coupled with
miscommunication in forecast led
to a grim end for more than 5,000
Taclobanons. For at the dawn
of November 8, 2013, Yolanda
unleashed her fury and raised hell
on the ground.

Even
after
five
years, rehabilitation still pose
a
challenge.
Resettlement
of residents living near the
shorelines and livelihood still
pose a problem.
dealing with an ocean pollution crisis.
According to Andrew Wynne’s report
from the Ocean Conservancy, the
Philippines became a major vector
for waste products, including plastics
that are flowing into the global ocean.
The Philippine government has
legislated a number of environmental
laws that would minimize solid
wastes like the Republic Act 6969 or
the Toxic Substances and Hazardous
and Nuclear Waste Control Act of
1990.

The
United
Nations
Environment Programme or UNEP
decided to rally their support on the #BeatPlasticPollution
movement
during World Environment Day
2018 on the 5th of June. It was done
in order to spread awareness and
to prevent spread of this pollution
which continues to worsen.

The bright side of this
movement is that it managed to get
attention from the people, but the UN
knew they needed to do more than
that.

They
are
reminding
everyone to act and be aware of this
environmental issue. Any individual
can help save the environment. (Asia
Mari T. Nuera/PIA-DCU)
P r e s i d e n t i a l
Spokesperson Salvador Panelo
said the Presidential Assistant
for Special Concerns, the
oversight official for the Yolanda
rehabilitation project reported
that as of December 31, 2017,
a total of P146.156 billion
was released to implementing
national government agencies,
government
owned
and
controlled corporations and local
government units. Half of the
funds released were allotted for
housing programs and ancillary
basic utilities.

Of the 205, 128
permanent housing targets for
Yolanda, as of October 30, 2018,
100, 709 have been completed. at
least 46, 412 have already been
occupied while 54, 297 are now
ready for occupancy, according to
the National Housing Authority.

The national government
is also doubling its efforts to
address issues that cause the
delay of resettlement like limited
availability of titled lands for
resettlement, slow processing and
issuance of permits and licenses
for construction projects and
livelihood opportunities.

And what better time to
push for better disaster resilience
measures now. The House of
Representatives has approved
for the third and final reading
the House Bill 8165, otherwise
known as the Department of
Disaster Resilience Act which
was articulated by President
Rodrigo Duterte both in his 2017
and 2018 State of the Nation
Addresses.

The city government
itself has mapped out a Revised
Comprehensive City Disaster
Risk Reduction and Management
Plan based on interventions from
stakeholders and the Taclobanons
themselves. In terms of capacity
building, Bernadan said his
team has engaged in more
extensive training and emergency
response seminars. The Barangay
Emergency Response Team are now activated and ensure quick
response at the onset of danger.

“Hindi bale ng mag-
over-react sa paghahanda kesa
magsisi kami na hindi kami
naghanda,” he said. Even with
the seeming endless challenges, a
lot has changed since that fateful
day and life in Tacloban has
prospered.

Even with remnants
of damaged building roof tops
still in view, Tacloban is now
teeming with malls, hotels and
other businesses. Traffic lights
are back, roads were expanded
and people have brand new cars.

“The running joke here
is that all people here have brand
news cars because all the old cars
were washed out by Yolanda,”
Raul Tiozon, a survivor, quipped.

Bernadan
said
an
Australian psychologist who
came back to Tacloban to
personally see the plight of the
people, said he was amazed at the
resilience of the Filipinos.

“The psychologist saw
the children playing happily and
he said there was no more sign
of suppression and depression.
He said if children are already
playing and smiling, that is
a manifestation that they are
already happy,” Bernadan said.

Indeed, five years after
Yolanda, Taclobanons’ resilience
is evident.

A surge of hope abounds
each new day that comes, making
them stronger, wiser and happier
knowing that God gave them a
second life to live a worthwhile
endeavour.

So when will stories on
Yolanda end?

It never will. Everyone
has a story to tell. Everyone has
a story to pass on from generation
to generation that once in their
life, darkness came to them but
they lived to see the light and the
dawning of a new day. (VHS/
PIA-8)