Some traditions are best kept alive. Others are best left to die.
Millions of Filipinos will troop to cemeteries today to pay tribute to their loved ones who have passed on.
It’s a familiar sight—in both humble and upscale memorial parks alike, relatives gather around the tombs of their loved ones and celebrate their memory. There is food, music, stories and even laughter; the occasion also gives family members the chance to catch up on each other’s lives outside of their daily pressures and preoccupations.
Indeed All Saints’/ Souls’ Day or Undas allows people to take a break from their usual routine. It’s a practice that has continued for generations and is likely to prevail despite younger people’s aversion to tradition and propensity to perform tasks virtually, rather than give their physical presence.
Unfortunately, the practice also comes with an unsightly, unhealthy aspect—the trash people leave behind.
One of the more unsavory aftermaths of the occasion is the ugly sight of garbage left on every corner of parks and cemeteries. Whether they were too busy recalling happy days with their loved ones or too much in a hurry, there is no excuse for visitors to leave behind piles of garbage and expect others to pick up their litter.
Local governments and administrators of memorial parks have the duty to provide adequate disposal areas. Still, even in their absence, visitors must see it as their personal duty to clean up after themselves. It is so fundamental yet also so often neglected.
Such irresponsible behavior negates the fond recollections and sober reflections occasioned by All Saints’ Day.