Environmental Issue
“The Philippines is no longer the third largest contributor of marine plastics in the world. It is in the fifth spot - after Indonesia, India, the US, Thailand and Brazil.”* Among global rankings, this remains a shameful one. Plastic pollution persists as an environmental issue in our country due to the lack of better plastic management. “The country’s so-called “sachet economy” has also contributed to the proliferation of plastics.”** Hence, the environmental issue becomes a political issue as well when policies or lack thereof fail to address and worse keep the status quo of plastic usage and production without concern to its impact in the world we live in. There are actions taken to address the issue like banning single-use plastics. However, there is a lack of political will to reinforce such policy on a bigger scale. Introducing sustainable packaging like eco-bags can only do much when there is still plastic production from industrial companies. The effects cannot be overstated a