By Chito Chavez
Quezon City based environmental group EcoWaste Coalition on Thursday expressed extreme frustration over the mounts of trash left behind by the devotees of Traslacion 2020.
(EcoWaste Coalition / MANILA BULLETIN)
"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," the group said in a statement.
"Despite the signage warning visitors that the law penalizing littering is 'strictly' enforced at 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," it added.
Every year, EcoWaste Coalition had pleaded to the devotees of the Black Nazarene to maintain cleanliness along the procession route and surrounding areas. But the pleas have not decreased the amount of garbage that is left behind.
"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," the group lamented.