Based on my research about the current Philippine Environmental Laws, I found out that it has two parts; first is the Presidential Decree no. 1586 or the Environmental Impact System which states that no projects shall be implemented without an Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC).In order for the government to find out if they are to issue an Environmental Compliance Certificate, an assessment should be done regarding the proposed project’s impact on the environment. An Environmental Impact Assessment is defined as a procedure in order to find out and predict the impact of proposed projects to the country’s environment and to men’s well being and health. This assessment is important in order for us to find out the resource allocation for the said project and determine the costs associated with environmental conservation. Once the Environmental Impact System has been approved an Environmental Compliance Certificate may now be given to the person in charge of the project and he may now proceed with the implementation of his project. The certificate is very important to have because it contains the terms and conditions that the person imposing the project should comply with. Failure to follow the conditions in the certificate may result to its suspension or cancellation, the person behind the project may be subjected to a fine not exceeding fifty thousand pesos (50,000Php). If the project is cleared and is now being implemented or started with, monitoring is usually done to make sure that they are complying with the conditions in the certificate and to observe the project’s environmental impact. The second part of the Philippine Environmental Law is the Presidential Decree no. 984 or The Pollution Control Law, this is also known as the Pollution Control Decree of 1978 is a national policy that is aimed to prevent, avoid, and control pollution of water, air, and land for the more effective utilization of the resources in the country. This law also contains the requirements or necessary standards needed to be followed in order to acquire a permit to build or impose a certain project that does not in any way affect the environment negatively. It also contains the provisions if ever there are penalties. Presidential Decree 984 focuses on; first, the Clean Air Act of 1999 which is a policy and program to maintain the air quality in the country. This is to bring all the citizens to cooperate and exert an effort to clean the air we breathe, and whoever will violate this act will be subjected to pay. The act primarily focuses on prevention rather than control, mainly because if we can prevent something bad from happening then it will be less burdensome in the near future. Preventing further damage to the stratospheric ozone layer is an example of this. This act sets standards for sources of mobile air pollution, those coming from vehicles like cars, trucks, vans, buses, jeepneys, tricycle, and motorcycles. Smoke stacks from industrial firms like hotels, power plants, and other establishments are also closely monitored. Aside from those mentioned, smoking, burning of garbage, and dust from construction are included. Second is the Clean Water Act of 2004, records say that as early as 1996 several tests were conducted and results showed that only 51% of rivers in our country are still usable, and the remaining 49% were already polluted due to domestic and industrial activities. That might not sound that much big of a deal until you realize that 31% of all sicknesses come from drinking or contact with dirty/polluted waters, diseases like cholera, amoebiasis, leptospirosis etc. Republic Act No. 9275 or the Clean Water Act of 2004 aims to protect the clean and remaining bodies of water we have left from pollution caused by discharges from human activities, factories in the industry, and other land based sources. It also states that all owners of companies or anyone who discharges wastewater are required to get a permit from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) or the Laguna Lake Development Authority, all companies or industries that discharge wastewater and are in operation even with the said permit will have to pay a wastewater charge in order to discourage the companies from discharging wastewater and opt to invest in cleaner production and pollution control technologies, this will help decrease the number of pollutants generated and discharged. Third is the Solid Waste Management or Republic Act No. 9003, this act talks about a legal structure on how our country can have a systematic and ecological solid waste management system that will help in maintaining and protecting the environment and the people’s health. This act also provides programs for minimizing waste, and knowing how to properly dispose of our garbage, it advices the people to adopt the three R’s of Solid Waste Management; Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. Segregation is also mandatory in the following areas; households, institutions, industrial facilities, commercial/business establishment, and agricultural areas. They also prohibit open burning of solid wastes to avoid further damage to the atmosphere and pollution to the air. Last is the Act to Control Toxic Substances and Hazardous and Nuclear Wastes or Republic Act No. 6969, they have several policies listed, one is to “regulate, limit, and prohibit importation, manufacturing, processing, sale, distribution, use, and dispose of chemical substances” this is done so that we can avoid unreasonable risk to the people’s health and of course to the environment, next is to prohibit entry and most especially disposal of hazardous wastes to the Philippines territorial limits and lastly, to conduct research on toxic chemicals and hazardous wastes.

How are Hotel and Tourism Management students affected by the Environmental Laws?

After reading a lot of things about the environmental laws in the Philippines I am now more aware of my surroundings and the things that need to be done in order to have a safe and clean place to live in. Having knowledge about the law is always a good thing because we become more careful in our actions. Some people are just not that knowledgeable about certain environmental issues that’s why they tend to care less. Hotel and Tourism students are affected by these laws because we will be working in an industry that is very wide and vast, everywhere we go there is always accommodation and food, which means that we can start by applying what we’ve learned regarding the environment to our workplace, not to mention that hotels and tourists are a huge part of our country’s economy, we can make a huge impact because our industry is well known and is all over the world, it will be our job as aware students or future employees to help in applying or implementing ways on how we can help keep the environment clean and at the same time provide quality service to all our guests. Our course also deals with serving and having contact to people that avail our products and services, we can help these people contribute to the health of our surroundings by setting an example for them and providing service that not only is exceptional but also environment friendly. If we are lucky enough to become managers or even owners of our own hotels or travel agencies someday, then we can set goals and policies in our own establishments that comply with the environmental laws, without compromising our main goal which is to serve our guests well.

How can hotel and tourism businesses help improve the current environmental situation?

We are currently facing a lot of environmental issues in our country, from soil erosions, flashfloods, disappearing water sources, and air pollution to improper garbage disposal, illegal logging, and food poisoning caused by chemical wastes. These are just some of the many problems our country is facing today, as students and future employees to the industry of Hospitality and Tourism we can help in facing the current environmental issues by implementing certain protocols and policies in our work place. Installing water meters in every department (if possible) for example, is a good way to monitor the establishment’s water consumption, by doing so we can determine the monthly water consumption and cost of our workplace, if we are aware of this we’ll know what department consumes too much water and necessary action will be taken immediately. Water saving devices like flow regulators, water flow sensors, and low flush toilets are just some of the things we can put in our comfort rooms and kitchens to make sure that wasting water is at a minimal, and if observed thoroughly, no wastage at all. Leaks because of poor plumbing is also a cause of water wastage in a lot of homes and buildings, we must regularly maintain plumbing fixtures to make sure that no leaks will come up. Monthly inspection for drips and leaks in the establishment should be done be it at hotels, resorts, or restaurants. With regards to the kitchen/ Food and Beverage Department, using of dishwashers should only be done during the check out of the guests and washing of small kitchenware should be done by hand with the use of antibacterial soap, to help conserve water. Electricity is one thing that our industry consumes a lot, we use this to power up big hotels and casinos, help elegant restaurants operate, and keep the sense of having recreational places like theme parks, however, despite the benefits we get from using electricity, only a few of us realize its importance. Electricity is acquired by converting energy released from burning fossil fuels, as consumers continue to use huge amounts of electricity every day; it’s very likely that all the fossil fuels around the world will soon run out. Conserving energy in our homes and business establishments can help preserve fossil fuels, for example, installing electricity meters in every department to monitor monthly energy consumption to avoid increasing electric bills will have a huge impact given the fact that a lot of hotels, resorts, and restaurants use a lot of electricity. Using energy efficient appliances and light bulbs in high consumption areas, and turning them off when not in use can also be done to avoid high energy consumption. For resorts and hotel room, they can use solar panels to heat water for the guests, by doing so this can save up to 40% of energy cost. Hotels, Resorts and Restaurants produce large amounts of solid and liquid wastes these wastes end up scattering in the environment due to poor or inadequate waste management and handling, therefore it is a must to implement strategies and programs to minimize wastes and to apply the three R’s; reduce, reuse, and recycle. Segregating wastes is a very basic step in waste management; this is helpful to the environment because if we are able to determine the biodegradable ones from the non biodegradable then we can determine the best way to safely dispose of the waste. If we are purchasing products that we need to operate our establishment, the first thing we should keep in mind is to choose products that are least polluting and most sustainable, by doing so we can avoid the risk of contributing to the pollution in our country, and because it’s sustainable we can benefit from it for a longer period of time without having to dispose the product after several uses, thus helping minimize wastage in our establishment. In restaurants or other food establishments, instead of using disposable containers like Styrofoam which not only takes a long time to decompose but can also have negative effects to our health, they can use reusable lid containers that are very environment friendly and can be reused. Hotel’s purchase huge amounts of detergents, bleach, and other chemicals used in the laundry and lavatory area, if possible they should collect the empty chemical containers and send them back to the manufacturer so that it can be used again instead of piling up bottles of detergents etc. and just throwing them anywhere, or worse some people even burn them, aside from this they can just refill the bottles instead of buying new ones. They can also help save the trees by controlling the usage of paper in their offices and homes, for example, if possible they can simply use email to send documents from one establishment to another, instead of printing them out. For used or scrap paper, reusing the back side can also help in reducing the use of clean, unused paper. We should also avoid the use of aerosol sprays like some air fresheners that damage our ozone layer, choosing sprays that do not use propellant gas is our best bet. Another very important thing that hotel, resort, and restaurant builders can do is to stop putting up their establishments in places with natural wildlife and in places where cutting down hundreds of trees is necessary just so they can earn profit.

Sources:

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