THE NUMBERS are difficult to ignore.
In just two weeks, Iloilo City’s “Oplan Kontra Baha” campaign recovered 74 tons of garbage from rivers and creeks. As reported by this paper, plastic accounted for about 80 percent of the waste collected during the first week of operations. This is very disturbing not only because plastic waste is choking waterways and worsening flooding.
Why is plastic still such a massive problem when Iloilo City has long been recognized as one of the pioneers in regulating single-use plastics?
More than a decade ago, Iloilo City adopted Regulation Ordinance No. 2013-403, which sought to eliminate thin, non-biodegradable plastic bags. In recent years, the policy has been reinforced through Executive Order No. 043 issued by then mayor Jerry Treñas, which strictly regulates the use of unnecessary single-use plastic items in city government offices, public parks, plazas, esplanades, and other public spaces. These measures were intended to change behavior, reduce plastic consumption, and cultivate a culture of environmental responsibility.
Yet today, workers cleaning the city’s waterways are still hauling mountains of plastic waste from rivers. What happened?
The answer is likely more complicated than simply blaming government policy.
Regulations do not automatically guarantee compliance. A city may pass ordinances, issue executive orders, and conduct information campaigns, but if people continue consuming and improperly disposing of single-use plastics, the problem persists.
This is where the concept of a throwaway culture comes into play.
For decades, convenience has shaped consumer habits. Plastic bags, plastic wrappers, disposable containers, plastic cups, plastic straws, and countless other single-use products have become deeply embedded in everyday life. They are used for a few minutes and discarded without a second thought. Out of sight, out of mind. Until they reappear in rivers. Until they clog drainage systems. Until they contribute to flooding. Until they break down into microplastics that eventually find their way into the fish we eat.
The tragedy is that the costs are borne not only by those who improperly dispose of waste but by the entire community. Taxpayers pay for cleanup operations. Communities suffer from floods. Fisherfolk face threats to marine ecosystems. Future generations inherit polluted waterways and damaged environments. This is the true cost of throwaway culture.
The situation in Iloilo City also suggests that regulation alone is not enough. The city deserves credit for being ahead of many local governments in adopting anti-plastic measures. But ordinances must be accompanied by relentless enforcement, stronger monitoring, and continuous public education.
Businesses must be encouraged — or required — to reduce unnecessary plastic packaging. Consumers must be given practical alternatives. Schools must continue teaching environmental responsibility not as an occasional lesson but as a way of life.
Perhaps it is also time to ask whether current penalties are sufficient to discourage violations. If plastic waste continues to dominate river cleanups despite years of regulation, then policymakers must honestly assess what is working and what is not.
Most importantly, residents must recognize that environmental responsibility cannot be delegated entirely to City Hall. No ordinance can succeed if citizens refuse to cooperate. No cleanup campaign can keep pace with a steady stream of garbage entering waterways every day.
The 74 tons of waste recovered from Iloilo City’s rivers should not merely be viewed as evidence of a pollution problem; it should be viewed as evidence of a cultural problem — a lingering dependence on disposable convenience despite years of environmental awareness campaigns and government intervention.
The city has already shown leadership by regulating single-use plastics. Now the challenge is ensuring that the public follows through. Because if plastic still makes up the bulk of the garbage found in our rivers after more than a decade of anti-plastic policies, then the problem is no longer the absence of rules.
The problem is that too many people continue treating those rules as optional.
