Legarda: No to cigarette waste, microplastics

On World No Tobacco Day, Senate President Pro Tempore Loren Legarda emphasized the inextricable link between environment and health, pointing out that in Paris, France today, coincidentally, countries are negotiating a Plastics Treaty that would address the crisis that has brought microplastics into our food, water, and even the air we breathe.

The four-term Senator responsible for most significant pieces of environmental legislation for the last few decades said the costs associated with plastics are phenomenal, not the least of which is the expense of trash collection and damage to our surroundings and health if uncollected.

She added that some studies claim the Philippines is the number one marine polluter.

"While I have questions about their research methods, those questions don't negate how much plastic is generated and ends up in the waste stream," she said.

Legarda furthered that the highest count of single-use plastic in coastal clean-ups is cigarette butts and insisted that our treaty and policy should address the damage they cause.

"Cigarette filters do not filter the carcinogens but only give smokers a false complacency and even makes this deadly vice pleasant somehow," Legarda lamented.