Litter-free Black Nazarene feast urged

MANILA, Philippines - With the feast of the Black Nazarene just a week away, an ecological group appealed to devotees this early to keep the celebration litter-free. EcoWaste Coalition asked maroon-clothed "Hijos del Señor Nazareno" (Sons of the Lord Nazarene) devotees to show leadership in making the event "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," EcoWaste Coalition president Manny Calonzo said in an article on the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines website. Calonzo lamented the massive garbage from last year's fiesta made Plaza Miranda and adjoining streets in Quiapo a virtual dumpsite of plastic bags, drinking straws, plastic bottles, Styrofoam containers, food wrappers, bamboo skewers and cigarette butts. "While deeply touched by the timeless devotion of Catholic Filipinos to the Black Nazarene, we cannot help but notice how the wellbeing of our fragile environment is often ignored by many devotees as they fervently fulfill their rituals and vows," he said. The group also discouraged politicians from putting up single-use "Happy Fiesta" banners crisscrossing the streets since it will only add 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. In last year's festivities, the group took photos of the littered streets and provided copies to the offices of Manila archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales and Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo. To minimize trash at the upcoming Quiapo fiesta, the group proposes the four basic steps outlined by the late Manila archbishop 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: * Minimize the creation of waste by using as few resources as possible at the various events; * Avoid using plastic and disposable items; * Separate discards into biodegradable and non-biodegradable; and * 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. It added a "green" feast 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." - GMANews.TV