Metro Manila Mayors decided to re-implement the Anti-Littering Law of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) to RA 9003, the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act. Police will now have the power to start ticketing violators of the said law next week, September 16, 2010.
MMDA Regulation Number 96-009 as amended by MMDA Regulation Number 99-006 or the Anti-Littering Law, approved by the Metro Manila Council (MMC) in August 1996, prohibits
littering, dumping, and throwing of garbage or any kind of waste in open or public places. Around P12 million was collected from administrative fines from January 1999 to July 2002. The implementation of the law was suspended in 2003 after it was overtaken by more pressing priority programs of the authority.
Among the mayors who strongly supported the law, Makati Mayor Erwin Binay, Valenzuela Mayor Sherwin Gatchalian, Muntinlupa Mayor Aldrin San Pedro, Taguig Mayor Lani Cayetano, and other representatives.
Under the law, violators are issued an Environmental Violation Receipt (EVR). Environmental police will be deployed in the metropolis to penalize violators of the Anti-Littering Law. Administrative Fines ranging from P500 to P1,000 and community service for those who cannot afford to pay. Violators with unsettled records will not be able to get a clearance from the National Bureau of Investigation. These penalties are great and I think will be very effective. Violators can now really feel the weight of the fines and would think twice before littering again.
This will be great news to all drivers. Garbage on roads here in the Philippines is one of the problems causing traffic. Sometimes the garbage from squatters areas are consuming one lane of a two lane road. Hopefully this would help.
