EcoWaste Coalition Decries Continued Use of Single-Use Plastic Fiesta Banderitas amid Plastic Pollution Crisis
13 January 2025, Quezon City. The environmental watchdog group EcoWaste Coalition criticized the unrestrained use of plastic “labo” (super thin plastic without handles) and other single-use plastic materials as fiesta banderitas.
The group for the nth time called attention to the wastefulness of plastic banderitas as many communities such as Pandacan and Tondo in the City of Manila prepare to celebrate the popular feast of Santo Niño this coming weekend.
Based on the visual investigation it conducted yesterday, the group found the streets of Tondo and Pandacan once again bedecked with single-use plastic banderitas such as those fashioned out of new plastic “labo,” one of the most problematic plastic types that is hardly reused or recycled.
“Buntings made of plastic ‘labo’ and other single-use plastics go straight to garbage disposal sites after the festivities,” said Ochie Tolentino, Zero Waste Campaigner, EcoWaste Coalition. “We question the continued use of disposable banderitas in faith-inspired festivities, which only add to the perennial garbage woes facing our communities.”
“We appeal to our community leaders to go against the tide and forgo the hanging of single-use plastic banderitas, which is not in tune with ongoing efforts to end plastic pollution, a planetary threat to public health and the environment,” she said.
The group explained that the use of disposable plastic banderitas in popular celebrations such as the feast of Santo Niño is inconsistent with local and global efforts to address the pervasive pollution caused by plastics, which compelled states to negotiate for a legally-binding treaty on plastic pollution. Countries will resume negotiations in 2025 to adopt a global plastics treaty.
In particular, the nonstop use of plastic "labo" and other plastic-based disposable buntings is not compatible with the resolution on plastic that church leaders adopted at the 128th Plenary Assembly of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) in July 2024, which identified “support(ing) efforts to eradicate plastic pollution” as one of the six ecological actions to be pursued.
Prior to this, the bishops in 2019 issued a pastoral letter on ecology entitled “An Urgent Call for Ecological Conversion, Hope in the Face of Climate Emergency,” which affirmed the commitment of the church to live the spirit and principles of Laudato Si, the encyclical of Pope Francis on care for the natural environment and the people.
The said pastoral letter includes a 13-point ecological actions, including one that says “live simply, minimize consumption and actively promote ecological awareness and action through integral waste segregation and by minimizing the use of plastic and paper, by eliminating single-use plastics, polystyrene and the like, from our homes and institutions.”
“In response to the call for ecological conversion, we appeal to our churches and communities to do away with single-use plastic fiesta banderitas and other wasteful disposables, and make the protection of the environment and people central to our faith-rooted celebrations,” the EcoWaste Coalition said.
The group further appealed to all aspirants for the upcoming midterm elections not to take advantage of the feast of Santo Niño as a venue to campaign, stressing that the popular feast should not be used for political gain.
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