Employees and visitors of the Muntinlupa City hall will be prohibited from using plastic bottles.

Muntinlupa City Mayor Ruffy Biazon signed Executive Order 42 to lessen polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles used for drinking water and other beverages. He signed the order on October 14, the day he marked his 100th day in office.

The ban on PET bottles would cover the main building, the People’s Center, and the annex building at the city hall compound.

City hall employees and visitors are encouraged to use water bottles other than PET bottles during meetings and other activities, Biazon said.

He noted the Philippines has become third among the world’s top contributors to plastic pollution.

“Kada taon, 500,000 tons ng plastic na basura ang napupunta sa karagatan ng Pilipinas. Our plastic waste is practically killing our oceans,” he said.

He added he hoped his order regulating the use of PET bottles inside the city hall would help reduce plastic waste.

He also posted a selfie holding his metal water bottle and also called on his constituents to do the same.

Previously, the city government coordinated with its barangays to implement the “Bigas sa Basura” program, wherein a kilo of rice would be given to residents who would collect a kilo of recyclable waste.