I've read many articles about plastic waste in oceans and none of them specifically cited the Philippines as a major source. Now an article published online at ourworldindata.org/ocean-plastics entitled “Where does the plastics in our ocean come from?” written by Hannah Ritchie says that we are not just a major source, we are in fact at the very top. According to the article, an estimated 81 percent of ocean plastics come from Asian rivers with the Philippines contributing more than one-third (36 percent) of the global total. In spite of their big land area and huge population, India contributes only 13 percent and China 7 percent. This is very alarming. We are the top ocean polluter? The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has not released a statement on this.

Peña, R. (2021, June 25). Pampanga River a major source of plastics in the ocean. SunStar Pampanga, p. 4.