Pasig River rehabilitation body: Drop balloon use completely

MANILA, Philippines — The Pasig River Rehabilitation Commission told the organizers of the controversial balloon dropping event to abandon the use of balloons altogether.

The statement came after a photo circulating online supposedly showing Cove Manila with orange balloons to be used for the drop still hanging from the ceiling.

Okada Manila, which manages Cove Manila, on Sunday announced that it canceled the supposed record-breaking event where 130,000 balloons were planned to be dropped as part of its New Year’s Eve revelries. 

It said it made the decision after a recommendation from the Department of the Environment and Natural Resources.

The PRRC however stressed that the call to cancel the event includes the scrapping of “all acts involving the use of balloons...and not just the act of dropping the balloons per se.”

The commission, under the Office of the President, added it has become difficult to believe that the organizer was truly sincere in its decision to cancel the event amid the photo.

Philstar.com has reached out Okada Manila and Cove Manila to verify if the photo circulating on social media was indeed of the balloons supposedly to be used in the scrapped event but they have yet to respond as of this story's posting.

A video report of CNN Philippines showed thousands of balloons being inflated for the event were colored white and not orange.

Purchase of balloons a 'research failure'

Okada Mania has earlier maintained that they followed sound environmental policies when it organized the event, stressing that the balloons they purchased are biodegradable and would later be recycled.

READ: New Year's Eve balloon drop 'environmentally sound,' club says

The DENR’s Biodiversity Management Bureau, however, said that even biodegradable balloons would take six months to four years to decompose.

“These are still harmful if ingested by wildlife and still contribute to waste, despite the observance of proper disposal guidelines,” the DENR added.

The PRRC said that the purchase of the balloons shows Okada Manila’s failure in research.

“Since Okada Manila failed to let alone do a simple research regarding the ineligibility of its attempted balloon drop event in setting a Guinness World Record, we now doubt the soundness of its solid environmental management protocols in recycling the balloons,” the commission said.

It pointed out that a “sound environmental management protocol should have been to refuse the purchase, or use, of 130,000 balloons" which would pollute the Pasig River and the Manila Bay and endanger its aquatic life.

“While we do not undermine Okada Manila’s corporate social responsibility programs, such can never justify the utilization of 130,000 balloons, albeit biodegradable, because it contradicts our efforts to rehabilitate our waterways, particularly the Pasig River and the Manila Bay,” the commission added.

— Kristine Joy Patag