Cove Manila scraps much-criticized New Year’s Eve balloon drop

Faced with mounting criticism from social media users, environmental activists, and the Department of Natural Resources, Cove Manila on Sunday announced that it will no longer go through with its planned balloon drop for New Year's Eve.

"The management of Okada Manila has voluntarily decided to cancel the Balloon Drop event as a sign of respect to the DENR’s recommendation and in support of the Government’s campaign to protect and save the environment," the establishment said in a statement on its Facebook page.

Cove Manila had earlier planned to drop 130,000 balloons on New Year's Eve to vie for a world record, a move that was widely panned online as being potentially detrimental to the environment.

Netizens also pointed out that Guinness World Records no longer monitors "environmentally impactful" events such as balloon releases.

An establishment of Okada Manila located in Entertainment City in Parañaque City, Cove Manila had earlier responded to the backlash by saying that the balloon drop would be an indoors event and involve "biodegradable" balloons. It also said that it was planning to recycle them—a statement that was met with incredulity by many netizens, who wanted Cove Manila to expound on how it planned to recycle 130,000 latex balloons.

Metro Manila generates 56,000 cubic meters of trash per day, up by 2,000 cubic meters from the year before.

Earlier this year, the United Nations Environment Programme disclosed that the Philippines is one of five countries responsible for half of the plastic waste found in the world's oceans. — BM, GMA News