Christmas merrymakers leave volumes of trash in Luneta

Despite appeals from park officials, many Filipinos who spent Christmas Eve at Luneta (Rizal Park) in Manila on Tuesday left behind volumes of trash.

Park cleaners continuously roamed the park sweeping and collecting trash, according to a report by Mark Salazar on GMA News TV's Balitanghali on Wednesday.

A maintenance worker of the National Park Development Committee arranges bags of trash collected from the grounds of Luneta (Rizal Park) in Manila on Monday, Dec. 25, 2019. Many merrymakers spent Christmas Eve at the park, leaving their trash behind. Danny Pata

It seemed that only a few visitors brought their own reusable utensils as most of the trash collected were plastic spoons and forks as well as bottled water and styrofoam boxes.

Visitors also did not follow garbage segregation since the trash collected were a mix of organic waste and non-recyclable items.

There were also lots of flies seen around the garbage.

More than 100 vendors were allowed by park officials to sell items at Luneta, but the president of the vendors' association clarified they are helping make the park clean rather than dirty.

Many Filipinos trooped to Luneta for Christmas Eve since both Manila Zoo and amusement park Star City remained closed. —KG, GMA News