"Trash-lacion" or "Traslacion"? Garbage Galore at Rizal Park

"The EcoWaste Coalition laments the widespread dumping of garbage that again tainted the huge gathering this morning of tens of thousands of Catholic devotees of the Black Nazarene at the historic park. Soon after the carriage bearing the revered image left Quirino Grandstand, we saw lots of bins and bags teeming with mixed garbage, including sleeping materials, food leftovers, urine-filled plastic bottles, dirty diapers, and hordes of single-use plastics. Despite the signage warning visitors that the law penalizing littering is 'strictly' enforced in the sprawling park, some people recklessly threw their rubbish anywhere, which government workers and volunteers from church, school and environmental groups had to pick up.  The repeated call by various sectors, including the Manila City Government, Quiapo Church and the EcoWaste Coalition, for an environmentally-responsible expression of piety and devotion again fell on deaf ears. While we deeply regret the trashing of Rizal Park and the streets of Manila for the nth time, we remain confident that the situation will improve in the coming years as more devotees of the Black Nazarene listen to the call for ecological conversion amid growing plastic and chemical pollution and climate change. - EcoWaste Coalition