DAVAO CITY – A Davao City-based environmental group Interfacing Development Interventions for Sustainability (IDIS) said that big corporations and manufacturers have done nothing substantial to address plastic wastes at source.

IDIS executive director Atty. Mark Peñalver said this after volunteers recovered 1,159 of assorted wastes, mostly polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles, sando bags, soiled diapers, sanitary pads, face masks, plastic spoon and forks, and sachets during the 6th River Clean-up Drive and Brand Audit on Saturday at the Panigan-Tamugan Watershed, the city’s next source of potable water.

“According to the Bantay Bukid Volunteers, most of the waste kay gikan sa mga nagaadto sa Panigan-Tamugan para maligo. Other sources kay households (most of the wastes came from visitors who came to swim at Panigan-Tamugan while others, from households),” he said.

He added that recreational activities in the watershed area are poorly regulated, saying visitors do not even coordinate with the barangay officials before entering the Panigan-Tamugan watershed.

He said they are persistently calling on big corporations and manufacturers to take responsibility for causing the plastic waste problem, and initiate efforts to ‘conserve and protect the environment.’

“For the past years, they have done nothing substantial to tackle plastic reduction at source,” he said.

The group also urged the public to be mindful of their wastes by disposing of them properly and avoiding the single-use plastics.

Aside from IDIS, Bantay Bukid volunteers, some local residents, and volunteers from Pag-asa Youth Association of the Philippines-Mintal Chapter joined the brand audit and clean-up drive.

“They counted and documented the brands of plastic wastes they collected during the clean-up to help identify the companies responsible for plastic pollution,” he said.

He said the group envisions that in the succeeding brand audits, little to no wastes would be collected in the rivers and other water bodies in Davao and elsewhere.