Laoag City is turning green with their intensive plan to lessen plastic usage for local businesses in the city through the implementation of the BAYONG ordinance in 2023.
The Bring Along Your Own Natural Greenbag or BAYONG ordinance aims to regulate the use of plastic bags and other materials made of plastic as secondary packaging or plastic carry out bags for all forms of merchandise.
The ordinance also seeks to ban the use of styrofoam for food and other packing needs.
This ordinance will be a priority for the Laoag City Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO) for 2023, according to their head, Mylene Pascual.
Let’s examine the ordinance that is expected to help Laoag City shine in environmental protection.
In this ordinance, individuals and establishments will be prohibited to use thin film, single-use or carry out plastic bags for the merchandise they are purchasing especially for dry goods.
“Reusable eco-bags are perfect to use when shopping for dry goods because it’s a lot sturdier and more spacious compared to a regular plastic bag,” Pascual suggests.
For those who don’t want to spend extra money on an eco-bag, repurposing old bags and other containers can also be a valuable option.
Moreover, food establishments, like carinderias, are also banned from using styrofoam to pack their food and drinks; instead they are to use paper packaging and non-plastic spoons and forks as alternatives.
Buyers, however, are allowed to use plastic bags only when purchasing wet products.
Under the exemption of this ordinance, buyers are limited to use only one plastic bag for all their wet products when purchasing in the city’s public market.
Pascual explained, “For wet products lang ang exemption. Mali-limit lang sa isang plastic bag ang pwede nilang gamitin sa lahat ng mga wet goods na bibilhin nila. Hindi na pwedeng isang plastic sa fish tapos isang plastic din para sa mga meats.”
If buyers are planning to buy more than one type of wet goods, CENRO recommends they bring their own food containers to the market.
To ensure that both buyers and sellers are following this environmental move, the city will be imposing fines for those who will be caught violating the ordinance.
For first offense, they will be fined P500; for second offense, the fine will be P1,000; and P3,000 will be the fine for buyers caught on third offense.
Establishments caught in the first offense will receive a P3,000 fine with a stern warning; for the second offense, they will be fined P4,000 and an issuance of closure order for three months; and for third offense, they will receive a P5,000 fine with the cancellation of their business permit in the city.
The CENRO head is optimistic that the city will adapt to these changes especially with their plans to increase information dissemination efforts through conducting fora and seminar around the barangays in the city to teach residents about composting and proper waste segregation.
The Barangay Balatong Sanitary Landfill, which is now on its second phase of construction for its slope protection, is only taking the residual waste of the city.
Thus, the CENRO is hopeful that with the strict implementation of this ordinance, the landfill won’t fill up quickly so it can serve the city for decades to come.
CENRO is hoping that all Laoageños will unify with this greening plan so the city can avoid possible hazardous effects of plastic in the environment.
“Sa laban na ito, hindi lamang dapat kami [CENRO] ang gumalaw, dapat tulong-tulong tayong mga Laoageños para mapabuti ang lagay ng ating tirahan. Kaya magsimula tayo sa pag-iwas sa mga plastic materials at pag-practice ng proper waste segregation, sa mga maliliit na pamamaraan na ito tayo makakakita ng malaking pagbabago sa kalikasan,” Pascual shared. (JCR/AMB/EJFG/PIA Ilocos Norte)
