REPUBLIC Act 9003, or The Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000, is now 20 years old. After two decades, a lot still needs to be done to reduce waste and manage residuals. Some provisions of the law, like the controversial prohibition of "non-environmentally acceptable products" or NEAP, have not been implemented.
Section 29 of RA 9003 states that: "Within one (1) year from the effectivity of this Act, the Commission shall, after public notice and hearing, prepare a list of non-environmentally acceptable products as defined in this Act that shall be prohibited according to a schedule that shall be prepared by the Commission."
The "Commission" refers to the National Solid Waste Management Commission (NSWMC), the highest body that oversees the implementation of RA 9003. It is composed of Secretaries or alternate representatives of several government agencies, the different leagues of local government units, as well as three private representatives from the recycling industry, manufacturing industry and non-government organization.
Many years back, the NSWMC formed a technical committee for NEAP but up to now no list has been prepared. Now, 20 years after, there are two products that might be banned soon. The NSWMC has recently approved the first two NEAPs - plastic softdrink straw and plastic coffee stirrer.
The NSWMC made their deliberations through a virtual en banc meeting on February 02, 2021, which was presided by DENR Undersecretary Benny D. Antiporda. The resolution declaring plastic straw and stirrer as NEAP was approved with 11 affirmative votes and three negative votes. The resolution was passed despite heavy resistance from some members of the Commission, such as the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), the manufacturing and recycling industries.
Section 5, Rule XII, of the DENR DAO 2001-34, the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of RA 9003, provides very strict conditions in determining NEAP. Votation by the members of the Commission should only be a done as a last resort if no consensus was reached.
Are the 11 votes sufficient to approve the resolution? The IRR says that a resolution must be approved by at least two thirds of the members of the Commission. Since the IRR did not say two thirds of those present in the meeting, then it may mean two thirds of all 17 members which is 11.33 or rounded to 12. If this is the case, the resolution lacks the required number of votes. However, if the Chairman is not allowed to vote like in the case of local government legislative councils, then there will only be 16 votes on the floor and two thirds is 10.66 or 11. This is however not clear in the IRR. If challenged, it might even reach the Supreme Court.
Anyway, if the NSWMC Resolution is final, there will surely be a gradual phase-out to allow various stakeholders to comply. This is a step in the right direction. Some countries have already banned these single-use plastic items.