Waste and Pollution Watch Group Makes an Early Plea for a Trash-Less “Traslacion” Next Year
(Photos taken by the EcoWaste Coalition's Basura Patrollers on January 9, 2018 in Quiapo, Manila.)
With
the much-anticipated re-enactment of the “Traslacion” just a few weeks away, a
waste and pollution watchdog made an early appeal to millions of Black Nazarene
devotees to aim for a trash-free celebration.
The EcoWaste Coalition, a waste and pollution watch group, urged the millions
of Catholic faithful who are expected to take part in the mammoth procession
on January 9 commemorating the transfer of the venerated image of the
Black Nazarene from Luneta to Quiapo to take waste prevention seriously.
“We appeal to the devotees of the Black Nazarene to take waste prevention to
heart as they fulfill their religious vows. Let it not be said that the
age-old Traslacion has again turned into a ‘trash-lacion’ sullying every nook
and corner of the processional route with garbage,” said Daniel Alejandre, Zero
Waste Campaigner, EcoWaste Coalition.
Citing data from the Manila City Government, the group lamented that 385 tons
of mixed garbage were collected by government personnel and volunteers from
Quirino Grandstand in Rizal
Park
Year in and year out, the feast of the Black Nazarene is besmirched by tons of
mixed garbage abandoned on the streets and sidewalks of the city of Manila , especially at Rizal Park
Among
the typical waste materials collected are food wastes, polystyrene food
containers, plastic cups and cutlery, plastic and paper bags, plastic straws,
bamboo skewers, and cigarette filters, which often end up going to the dumps, the
group said.
“As next year is election year, we appeal to all politicos and their supporters
not to use the Traslacion to popularize their names and to add more garbage to
the occasion,” stated Alejandre.
Specifically, the group asked politicians, political parties and party list
groups not to put up tarpaulin banners and distribute campaign leaflets to the
huge crowd that is expected to join the Traslacion.
“Tarpaulitics,” or the unrestrained use of tarpaulins to publicize candidates’
names and faces, is not the way to earn the support of the electorate, the
EcoWaste Coalition emphasized.
“We also encourage well-meaning individuals and groups to offer devotees with
food and water in reusable containers and not in single-use plastic or paper
containers, which are hardly retrieved and recycled,” added Alejandre.
As January is also marked as the “Zero Waste Month,” the group appealed to
the Parish of Saint John the Baptist (Quiapo Church), Archdiocese of
Manila, Manila City Government, Metro Manila Development Authority, the
concerned barangays and civil society groups to work together to make
next-year’s Traslacion trash-free.
“The objective should not simply focus on how quick the garbage is swept,
collected and hauled, but on how the generation of garbage can be prevented and
reduced to the minimum,” said Alejandre.
-end-
Comments