Navotas City Rep. Toby Tiangco has filed a bill that would require people caught littering in public spaces to perform canal and waterway cleanup as community service, with repeat offenders facing up to three days of duty.
House Bill No. 10841, filed on August 18, seeks to establish the Anti-Littering Community Service Act and strengthen the enforcement of Republic Act No. 9003, or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000.
Under the proposal, littering or dumping solid waste in roads, streets, public buildings, canals, drainage facilities, esteros and other public spaces would carry one day of cleanup for a first offense, two days for a second, and three days for a third and every succeeding offense. Each day would be equivalent to eight hours.
Community service must be supervised, with local governments required to provide protective equipment, tools, sanitation facilities and safeguards against hazardous conditions. Vulnerable or medically unfit offenders would be assigned safer alternatives.
Those who fail to complete the required service could face proceedings and penalties under the Revised Penal Code and other applicable laws.
Tiangco argued that improperly discarded waste can clog drainage systems, damage pumping stations, worsen flooding and force government agencies to spend significant resources on clearing operations.
He cited recent MMDA operations in which 748.87 metric tons of garbage and debris—equivalent to about 203 truckloads—were removed from the Redemptorist Water Channel in Parañaque from August 10 to 13 following days of heavy rain.
The bill would also impose administrative penalties on local officials or employees who fail to enforce the measure: 15 days of suspension without pay for a first offense, 30 days for a second, and possible dismissal for a third or succeeding violation, subject to civil service rules.
If enacted, the ᴅᴇɴʀ ᴏғғɪᴄɪᴀʟ and DILG CALABARZON, together with the Department Of Health, MMDA, National Solid Waste Management Commission, local governments and other concerned sectors, would have 15 days from the law’s effectivity to issue its implementing rules.
