The city government of Manila has collected over 700 tons or 119 truckloads of garbage from the two major public cemeteries in the city following the end of the All Saints´ Day and All Souls´ Day holidays, Mayor Joseph Estrada said.
While noting that the volume of garbage is lesser compared to last year, Estrada lamented that until now littering is still widespread inside the cemeteries despite government’s appeal to the public to be more responsible in disposing their trash.
“We respect the dead but we do not respect the environment,” Estrada said, citing the piles of trash strewn around the grounds of the city-run Manila North and Manila South cemeteries. Bill Casas
Estrada said the “simplest act” of properly disposing the garbage “would have been a big help to the city government.”
Citing data from the Department of Public Services, Estrada reported that 119 truckloads of trash or 714 tons were collected from the Manila North and Manila South cemeteries from October 28 until November 2. The garbage were mostly styrofoam, various paper waste, plastic cups, baskets for flowers and dried flowers, and tetra packs, among others.
The city has mobilized a total of 1,502 workers for this pre- and post-All Souls’ Day cleanup.
At the 54-hectare Manila North Cemetery, cleanup crews collected 61 truckloads or 366 tons of garbage during the five-day period, the bulk of which was on November 2 with 19 truckloads or 114 tons.
At the Manila South Cemetery, 58 truckloads or 348 tons of garbage were hauled off, including the 12 truckloads or 72 tons on November 2.
According to Manila Police District Station 3, about 1.2 million Filipinos trooped to Manila North Cemetery; around 15,000 visited the Manila South Cemetery.
From October 27 to November 2, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority reported it has collected only 14.88 tons of garbage from six cemeteries this year compared to the 916.38 tons or 161 truckloads of garbage in 2016.
The six cemeteries are the Manila North Cemetery, South Cemetery, San Juan, Bagbag, Loyola Memorial Park in Marikina and Libingan ng mga Bayani in Taguig.
The agency noted the lesser volume of garbage collected from the big cemeteries this year, attributing it to the lesser number of people that visited the cemeteries due to rains brought by Tropical Depression “Ramil” on All Saints’ Day. Bill Casas