Manila's 'River Rangers' Battle Waste Crisis in Philippine Capital
As the Philippines battles a waste crisis, the government has tasked "river rangers" with clearing rubbish from waterways in the capital, Manila.
The sea of waste floating in streams creates a terrible stench for locals and causes health issues.
The sea of waste floating in streams creates a terrible stench for locals and causes health issues.
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NewsTranscript
00:00 In small boats, workers equipped with handheld nets scoop up garbage from a stream in the
00:08 Philippine capital of Manila.
00:11 The waste situation here has gotten so bad that the government has tasked more than 1,000
00:16 river rangers with clearing the waste from the city's waterways.
00:21 But no matter how much these workers remove, they say the problem is never ending.
00:26 "It's disappointing because no matter how much we clean, there's still garbage.
00:32 But we need to be patient so that we can reduce the amount of garbage.
00:36 Instead of just picking up garbage, we need to collect more."
00:42 The Philippines produces around 61,000 tonnes of trash every year, with plastic waste accounting
00:48 for nearly a quarter of that figure.
00:52 And much of this rubbish ends up in the country's waterways.
00:58 According to Dutch non-profit The Ocean Cleanup, the Philippines is the top contributor of
01:03 plastic waste to the ocean, with the Pazig River in Manila the most polluting in the world.
01:12 And for locals, it creates a terrible stench, causes flooding from clogged waterways, and
01:18 raises other health issues.
01:20 "Of course, we get sick if the garbage gets clogged in the ocean.
01:27 It's bad.
01:28 There are children who bathe in the ocean.
01:30 There are children who bathe in our river.
01:33 Only children."
01:34 "It's bad."
01:35 "Yes, it's bad."
01:36 Emma Giligo has lived with her family near the city's Paranaque River for 20 years.
01:47 She said she's never seen a garbage truck in the area.
01:51 But poor garbage collection services are just part of the problem.
01:59 There is also a lack of disposal facilities.
02:02 While severe poverty adds to the growing waste, families who cannot afford larger household
02:07 products often turn to single-use packaging.
02:10 And those plastics are discarded every day.
02:16 Lawmakers have sanctioned a series of environmental measures to control the issue in recent years,
02:22 including education, extra recycling centers, and urging companies to take responsibility
02:27 for their waste.
02:29 But putting these changes into action has been another challenge.
02:33 "Our goal as government institutions and officials and schools is to educate the people.
02:40 We want to implement proper measures to reprimand those who do not follow the rules so that
02:49 people will follow them."
02:51 And despite the work of these river rangers, sorting through and disposing the waste they
02:56 collect, the problems caused by this trash continue in Manila and across the Philippines,
03:05 prompting a call for sustained action to address the country's waste crisis.
03:11 Dolphine Chen and Rosie Greninja for Taiwan Plus.
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