Walang plastikan

Egay Uy . 

THE season of partying is over.  Calendars were full of schedules of office or company Christmas parties. Everyone was in a festive mood, especially when the much-awaited bonuses and cash gifts were on the way to the bank or paymasters.

Decorations have started to be put up in homes and offices. Now it’s time to retire them to be retrieved and recycled ten or eleven months later.  Some malls are still on their post-season sale. Photographs of families doing groupies and selfies before the Christmas decors in malls have sprouted in social media.

The shopping season is over. Plastic wrappers and bags have literally littered the streets, no thanks to the lack of discipline of many. People were still oblivious to sanitation and respect for others. Waste materials, trash and garbage were thrown just anywhere.  And government got the blame “for doing nothing.”

Christmas parties were either dull or joyous. Office gatherings where office heads made sure everybody enjoyed the festivities were almost daily. But then there were those whose office heads never gave a damn, so to speak. And there were those whose office heads held parties just for the select favored few.

Then, the city government’s task force firecrackers and the local police literally succeeded in its campaign against the use of unauthorized or illegal firecrackers and fireworks. Christmas and New Year celebrations became filled with more personal interactions.  

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Now, we are back to reality. In Cagayan de Oro, the “walang plastikan” campaign has started along with the unfolding of the new year. Supermarkets, grocery stores, public market vendors, and the like are prohibited from using sando bags when finally wrapping items sold to shoppers.

It is time for us to set aside plastics and contribute a little towards de-clogging our waterways, drainage canals, and building waste water pipes.  The penalties provided for in City Ordinance No. 13378-208 are merely incidental. The real issue is for us to help rid our surroundings of plastic bags.  And some others are saying it will be best if we also rid our lives of plastic people.

The use-ecobag campaign is still in its early stage and yet businesses have shown their full cooperation and support since the start of the implementation of the campaign.

Walang plastikan.

(Egay Uy is a lawyer. He chairs the City’s Regulatory and Complaint Board, co-chairs with the city mayor the City Price Coordinating Council, and chairs the city’s Joint Inspection Team.  He retired as a vice president of Cepalco.)