Trash marred key pilgrimage sites during Holy Week, as the EcoWaste Coalition flagged littering on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday.

While most churches were found generally clean, the group said littering was evident in several major religious activities, including the Alay Lakad to the International Shrine of Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage, the Good Friday procession of the Minor Basilica and National Shrine of Jesus Nazareno, and the Way of the Cross at the Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto Shrine.

“Despite the oft-repeated reminders to leave only footprints, rampant littering again tarnished the Holy Week as if it has become a tradition in itself,” Ochie Tolentino of EcoWaste Coalition said.

“As old habits die hard, we urge everyone, especially our faith leaders and the faithful, to persevere in promoting shared responsibility towards ecological conversion, so we dispose of practices that disrespect and harm Mother Earth,” he added.

The group said an estimated six million devotees who joined penitential and thanksgiving walks to Antipolo City left a trail of garbage, keeping waste and sanitation workers from at least four local government units- - -Pasig, Cainta, Taytay, and Antipolo- - -preoccupied, with Tikling Junction cited as a littering hotspot.

In the early morning of Good Friday, EcoWaste said the patio of the Antipolo Cathedral was found strewn with waste such as discarded plastic bottles and religious literature distributed by non-Catholic groups.

Littering was also observed in Quiapo district, particularly along Quezon Boulevard, Recto Avenue, and nearby streets, as the 13-hour procession of the revered Black Nazarene drew more than 500,000 devotees.

At the grotto shrine in San Jose del Monte City, EcoWaste said pilgrims performing the Way of the Cross left piles of rubbish, with overflowing bins and scattered litter observed along Calvary Hill and nearby picnic areas.

The group noted that littering, while less severe, was also recorded at the National Shrine and Parish of the Divine Mercy.

For its Lenten monitoring, the EcoWaste Coalition’s “Basura Patrollers” visited 42 churches across Bataan, Batangas, Bulacan, Cavite, Rizal, and Metro Manila, including sites in Caloocan, Makati, Malabon, Mandaluyong, Manila, Navotas, and Quezon City.

Among the places that stood out for cleanliness at the time of monitoring were the Cathedral-Shrine and Parish of St. Joseph (Balanga City, Bataan), St. Catherine of Siena Parish (Samal, Bataan), Minor Basilica of the Most Holy Rosary (Orani, Bataan), Archdiocesan Shrine and Parish of St. James the Greater (Ibaan, Batangas), Metropolitan Cathedral of St. Sebastian (Lipa City, Batangas), Minor Basilica of St. Martin of Tours (Taal, Batangas), Saint Gregory the Great Parish (Indang, Cavite), St. Augustine Parish (Mendez, Cavite), and, most notably, the Holy Spirit Chapel at the SVD Seminary (Tagaytay City), where strict ecological solid waste management, including segregation at source, is enforced in line with Republic Act No. 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act.

Also cited for being litter-free were the National Shrine and Parish of Our Lady of Aranzazu (San Mateo, Rizal), Mary Immaculate Parish Nature Church (Las Piñas City), St. Andrew the Apostle Parish (Makati City), San Bartolome Parish (Malabon City), San Felipe Neri Parish (Mandaluyong City), Santuario de Santo Niño (Mandaluyong City), and Santo Domingo Church (Quezon City).

The group also thanked local government units, church waste workers, volunteers, and members of the informal waste sector for helping maintain cleanliness and divert recyclables from dumps and landfills.