We Filipinos love witty one-liners delivered with a punch, like those Atty. Lorna Kapunan tosses into the otherwise serious proceedings of the Senate impeachment court—a light touch that tickles. We enjoy the rebuttals, whether conveyed through exasperated facial expressions or no-nonsense legal remarks. And so, the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte continues to hold our attention as it unfolds with information, argument, and drama.

Then the floodwaters rose—and the trial was momentarily displaced from public conversation.

Many of us were surprised—nay, shocked and very angry—when the waters reached extraordinary levels. We have lived and worked around flooded streets as though flooding were the most normal thing that could happen after monsoon rains, sometimes intensified by a low-pressure area or a typhoon.

But when the floodwaters rose the way they did on Monday, Aug. 17—knee-deep, thigh-deep, waist-deep, even chest-deep in some places—netizens hollered.

Their anger revived the oft-repeated question: What has happened to the people who allegedly connived to create ghost flood-control projects and keep them as ghosts?

Social media flamed with anger expressed in a thousand ways—straight reporting, curses, sarcastic rhetoric, exasperated grunts and woe-to-us commentaries. We had all the ingredients for a well-cooked protest.

Only a week ago—or perhaps just days earlier—heavy rains had also caused flooding. When those waters receded, we were reminded of another problem rapidly approaching crisis proportions: garbage.

Waste clogged rivers and drainage systems and floated with the floodwaters along highways and through communities. Much of it was plastic—bottles, food containers, bags and sachets used for all kinds of consumer goods: food, shampoo, soap, ketchup, beverages and countless other products. You know the image: garbage covering a waterway as completely as icing covers a cake.

Many again blamed citizens for their poor waste-disposal habits. I agree. The way garbage is dumped on street corners reveals a bad habit many of us have. Once the waste is packed inside a black garbage bag, it is out of sight; therefore, we imagine that it is gone and no longer our responsibility.

That attitude is displayed on street corners whenever garbage collectors fail to make their rounds. It becomes a full-blown crisis during holidays such as Christmas and New Year, when black garbage bags form small hills that reek of decaying trash.

But the greater responsibility for putting an effective system in place rests with the government. We already have laws requiring efficient solid-waste management, and only the government has the authority and resources to enforce them consistently.

Under Republic Act No. 9003, or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act, local governments are primarily responsible for managing solid waste. The law requires segregation at source, segregated collection, materials-recovery facilities, recycling, composting and the proper disposal of residual waste. Yet more than 25 years after its enactment, garbage continues to find its way into canals, creeks and rivers. (By the way, have you observed how garbage collectors just dump the garbage bags from your thrash bins which you have segregated? So, in what part of the collection process are these bags segregated?)

Government can establish conveniently located transfer stations and recycling centers where people can take properly separated waste when regular collection is delayed or unavailable. And it can impose and implement hefty fines in cash or community service to violators.

This is done in many parts of New Zealand, where local councils operate or contract transfer stations and resource-recovery centers. Households bring separated recyclables, green waste, electronic waste, reusable goods and general rubbish to designated areas. Recyclables are often accepted free of charge, while fees are imposed on general rubbish, encouraging people to sort their waste instead of sending everything to a landfill.

Government must also fully enforce Republic Act No. 11898, or the Extended Producer Responsibility Act of 2022. The law requires large companies covered by the law to take responsibility for the plastic packaging they place on the market. They must establish programs to recover, recycle, reuse or otherwise properly divert an increasing proportion of their plastic-packaging footprint.

This is especially important for sachets and other multilayer packaging, which have little economic value and are extremely difficult to recycle.

A landmark 2021 study estimated that Philippine rivers carry about 356,000 metric tons of plastic into the sea each year.

The figures are staggering—especially the estimated 163 million sachets used every day and the unmistakable presence of wrappers and thin plastics in our rivers.

As the floodwaters rose, so did the evidence of our failure to manage our waste. Plastic bottles, food containers, bags and sachets floated through streets and gathered against bridges and drainage openings.

The flood did not bring that garbage into our communities. It was already there—in canals, creeks and waterways—waiting for heavy rain to carry it back to our doorsteps, or to the attention of the public.

When the waters recede, the plastic will be swept into piles and hauled away, and the streets will appear normal again. But unless waste is stopped before it reaches our canals and rivers, the problem has not disappeared.

It has only moved downstream—perhaps toward Manila Bay, perhaps into the sea—until the next flood brings part of it home again. (Email: [email protected])