{"id":195822,"date":"2018-12-31T01:35:41","date_gmt":"2018-12-31T06:35:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=195822"},"modified":"2018-12-31T01:35:41","modified_gmt":"2018-12-31T06:35:41","slug":"denr-pleads-to-dropballoondrop-okada-manila-cancels-event","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2018\/12\/31\/denr-pleads-to-dropballoondrop-okada-manila-cancels-event\/","title":{"rendered":"DENR pleads to #DropBalloonDrop, Okada Manila cancels event"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Okada Manila\u2019s club Cove Manila has officially decided to terminate their plans in celebrating New Year\u2019s Eve through the dropping of 130,000 balloons in their indoor dome. (File Photo<\/a>: Okada Manila<\/a>\/Facebook<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Okada Manila\u2019s club Cove Manila has officially decided to terminate their plans in celebrating New Year\u2019s Eve through the dropping of 130,000 balloons in their indoor dome after the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) sent out a letter to the company urging for the discontinuation of the event.<\/span><\/p>\n

In a statement by the DENR\u2019s Biodiversity Management, they were \u201curging Cove Manila and Okada Manila to cancel the balloon drop activity and to redirect their efforts towards more sustainable, environmentally-friendly activities that the majority of Filipinos will enjoy and be proud of.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Initially, Cove Manila defended themselves stating that \u201cthe balloons are biodegradable,\u201d but the DENR explained, \u201cBiodegradable balloons, although made of natural latex, may take six months to four years or more to decompose naturally, depending on the amount and on the ability of microorganisms to breakdown large quantities.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Cove Manila still attempted to defend their case assuring the DENR that they have proven their \u201ccooperation with social responsibility\u201d by recalling their participation in Las Pinas-Paranaque\u2019s Coastal Cleanup earlier in the year as an example, but the DENR clarified \u201cWith this balloon drop event, it was made clear to us that Okada Manila did not actually grasp the rationale of the cleanup activity.\u201d Furthermore, the sector\u2019s Undersecretary Benny Antiporda shared with the media that pushing through with the plan can cause legal action against the night club\u2019s owners as they are in violation of Republic Act 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000.<\/span><\/p>\n

Eventually, the DENR\u2019s plea proved effective as Cove Manila released a statement last Sunday night that they are aware of the \u201c<\/span>many concerns raised from the various sectors about the environmental impact of the event\u201d and as a result, that they have<\/span> \u201cvoluntarily decided to cancel the Balloon Drop event as a sign of respect\u2026 and in support of the Government\u2019s campaign to protect and save the environment.\u201d Cove Manila concludes, \u201cWhile the Balloon Drop event has been cancelled, the public is advised that the New Year\u2019s Eve Countdown Party at Cove Manila and all other festivities in Okada Manila will proceed as scheduled and will not be affected.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Okada Manila\u2019s club Cove Manila has officially decided to terminate their plans in celebrating New Year\u2019s Eve through the dropping …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":195823,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1145,16,95],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-195822","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headline","category-news","category-news-ph","mauthors-gianna-llanes","mauthors-philippine-canadian-inquirer"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195822","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=195822"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195822\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/195823"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=195822"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=195822"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=195822"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}