The 15 th Congress of the Phil. House of Representatives filed 13 bills regulating the use/phase-out  of plastic bags. Said meeting was represented by STC and Dir. Fred Gravador in behalf of PAGASA. The Position Paper of PAGASA was submitted to the Secretariat of the House Committee on Ecology for study. The Technical Working Committee said It would consolidate the 13 bills filed by different congressmen for the next meeting. Previous Meeting was held in August last year during the last Congress.

We commend the various House Bills introduced regulating the production, importation, sale, use and recycling of plastic bags in all establishments in the country. It illustrates Congress’ pro-active concern for our environment with regard to the ill-effects of the improper disposal of plastic bags as used by commercial establishments.

P&G Phils. celebrated its Diamond Anniversary for doing 75 years of business in the Philippines (its 3 rd subsidiary) at the Harbor Tent of Hotel Sofitel with Pres. Benigno Simeon C. Aquino III as its Keynote Speaker. PAGASA was represented by STC & Treasurer William Villanueva.

At the 4th Public Hearing on Recycling of Plastic Bags from Commercial Establishments at the House of Congress, the Technical Committee on Environment decided to adopt the Position Paper of PAGASA on its proposal to get the citizenry involved in protecting the environment by having retail outlets act as collecting agents of used plastic bags for recyclers.

Quezon City, November 3, 2010 – The Philippine Amalgamated Supermarkets Association (PAGASA) launched their Reusable Bag Day with a short program featuring the reusable bag for distribution in all the more than one hundred members of the association.  This is in response to the PagbaBAG KO, Pagbabago!: A Reusable Bag Campaign which was launched last September 23, 2010 by Earth Day Network Philippines, Inc. (EDNPI) together with the Department of Environmental and Natural Resources (DENR), National Solid Waste Management Commission (NSWMC), Philippine Retailers Association (PRA). The campaign aims to develop the habit of using reusable bags instead of plastic bags.   The Launch was held at Welcome Supermart, Quezon City and present we re PAGASA President Steven Cua, former DENR Secretary and Earth Day Network Philippines Inc. Chairperson, Elisea “Bebet” Gozun, EDNPI Trustee, Ms. Binggirl Clemente and EDNPI Executive Director, as well as PAGASA Directors and Members, Jua