‘Make Quiapo fiesta litter-free’

01/04/2009

With the fiesta of the Black Nazarene drawing nearer, a waste and pollution watchdog has urged devotees of Quiapo’s popular icon to observe a litter-free celebration by making the gathering clean and green.

Eco Waste Coalition president Manny Calonzo asked maroon-clothed “Hijos del Señor Nazareno” (Sons of the Lord Nazarene) devotees to show leadership in making the fiesta celebration clean and green.

“The unrestrained littering during the Quiapo fiesta is a disgrace to our age-old devoutness to Nuestro Padre Jesus Nazareno to whom many of us come begging for relief and freedom from all troubles, including life-threatening diseases, that could have resulted from a polluted environment,” Calonzo said.

Calonzo lamented the massive trash in last year’s fiesta that made Plaza Miranda and adjoining streets a virtual dumpsite with tons of plastic bags, drinking straws, plastic bottles, styrofoam containers, food wrappers, bamboo skewers and cigarette butts left around.

“While deeply touched by the timeless devotion of Catholic Filipinos to the Black Nazarene, we cannot help but notice how the well-being of our fragile environment is often ignored by many devotees as they fervently fulfill their rituals and vows,” Calonzo added.

The group also discouraged putting up of single-use plastic buntings and “happy fiesta” banners criss-crossing the streets since they will only add up to the trash.

“With the 2010 polls just around the corner, more politicians are likely to make their presence felt in the coming fiesta by adding their lot to the unsightly banner extravaganza,” the group lamented.

After the fiesta last year, the eco group took photos of the littered streets and provided the offices of Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales and Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo with pictures to stir up church action on our society’s alarming throw-away culture, especially in faith-inspired festivities.

To minimize trash at the upcoming Quiapo fiesta, the group proposed the four basic steps outlined by the late Jaime Cardinal Sin when he exhorted the faithful to make the 2003 World Meeting of Families in Luneta a “zero waste celebration of life.”

These are: 1) minimize the creation of waste by using a few resources as possible at the various events, 2) avoid using plastic and disposable items, 3) separate discards into biodegradable and non-biodegradable, and 4) put them into their proper containers to facilitate recycling and make simpler the work of cleaners and collectors.

“Let us honor the Black Nazarene by blending the ‘maroon’ with ‘green’ towards an eco-friendly Quiapo fiesta,” said the group as it released a nine-point “Green Tips” for the devotees to consider.

A green fiesta, the EcoWaste Coalition pointed out, fits well with the bishops’ plea for “every citizen to eliminate wasteful consumption” as written in their recent pastoral letter “Upholding the Sanctity of Life.” Pat C. Santos

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