Press Release
July 29, 2019

Pia calls for 'plastics-free' Senate

Consistent with the celebration of 'Plastic-Free July,' Senator Pia S. Cayetano has called on the Senate to do its share in supporting the global movement to ditch single-use plastics and reduce plastic pollution.

In a brief manifestation during Monday's session (July 29), Cayetano reiterated her plastics-free advocacy by urging fellow senators not to contribute to the generation of plastic wastes in the country.

She enjoined her colleagues to adopt a policy of prohibiting PET bottles in plenary or during Senate hearings.

As an alternative to plastic, the senator had bamboo tumblers distributed to her colleagues in the session hall.

This was not the first time that Cayetano made an appeal to the Senate to be more environment-conscious in the conduct of its duties.

In 2012, Cayetano wrote a letter to the Senate Secretariat suggesting that water dispensers be set up in the Senate halls, instead of distributing bottled water during session and public hearings.

"This was adopted at that time, but I don't really know what happened in the (last) Congress because I wasn't here. So may I propose that we adopt it once again, especially since it is July, which is No-Plastic Month," Cayetano told her colleagues.

"To help support my colleagues in shifting to a more sustainable way of drinking water or whatever beverage you prefer, I am giving all of you bamboo tumblers, which you can use in lieu of single-use plastics," she added.

In 2011, Cayetano also requested the establishment of a Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) and enforce a ban on plastic bags within the institution's premises. This resulted in a 50-percent reduction in the solid wastes generated by the Senate during that year.

News Latest News Feed