By Jason de Asis

SENATE OFFICE, November 17, 2010-Sen. Loren Legarda asked smokers to comply with the Anti-Littering Law and dispose cigarette butts responsibly amid a  Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) report which ranked cigarette butts as the second highest pollutant in the country.

Legarda said smokers should be more responsible when they dispose their used cigarette butts because these pollute the air and are major pollutants because they are just being thrown anywhere.

“Everyone, not only smokers, should practice throwing their litter in waste baskets. It’s a simple act, yet people find it hard to follow. Law enforcers, particularly the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA), should strictly implement the Anti-Littering Law to prevent people from throwing their litter just about anywhere,” she added.

Last September, the MMDA started the re-implementation of the Anti-Littering Law. Most of those apprehended were caught throwing cigarette butts on the road.

Legarda said that this concern should be addressed immediately as it poses several environmental hazards.

Citing a report of the EcoWaste Coalition, Legarda said cigarette butts take up to about 15 years to break down, and in the process release some 4,000 left-over chemicals that can harm the ecosystems.

“We should always bear in mind that anything that would harm our ecosystem makes us more susceptible to threats of disasters. Thus, we have to protect and preserve our ecosystem because this is one of our important tools for our disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation strategy,” Legarda concluded.  (Jason de Asis)