The country, particularly Metro Manila, is facing a "garbage crisis," according to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. Secretary Roy Cimatu said clean-up operations were not enough to fix the garbage woes in the National Capital Region, where nearly 13-million people live. To help reduce the huge volume of trash, agency officials backed President Rodrigo Duterte's position to ban single-use plastics, he said.

Araja, R. N. (2019, December 6). Garbage crisis hits, cleanup no use, Cimatu says. Manila Standard, pp. A1, A2.