The Metro Manila Development Authority collected more than 47 tons of trash left by visitors in various cemeteries in the National Capital Region during the observance of All Saints’ and All Souls’ Day.
This despite the appeal of Church leaders and various environmental groups to the people to avoid dumping and abandon waste inside and near cemeteries during the solemn occasion annually observed on Nov. 1 and 2.
MMDA spokesperson Assistant Secretary Pircelyn Pialago said the agency’s Environmental Management Unit collected a total of 167.84 cubic meter (14 truckloads) of garbage from 27 cemeteries in 16 cities and one municipality in Metro Manila from Oct. 28 to Nov. 3.
Pialago said the trash collected this year was lower than the 57 tons of garbage the MMDA collected in 2018.
“The number is lesser compared to Undas last year when 202.61 cubic meter or 17 truckloads of garbage were collected,” she added.
Pialago said the major cemeteries under the MMDA’s watch include the Manila North in the City of Manila, Manila South in Makati City, Loyola Memorial Park in Marikina City, Bagbag Public Cemetery in Quezon City, and Manila Memorial Park in Paranaque City.
Environmentalist group Ecowaste Coalition lamented the throw-away culture that again typified the annual observance of Undas.
Based on the group’s monitoring, ‘minimal to intense’ littering was observed in 17 cemeteries in various cities in Metro Manila.
Littering, it stated, was most widespread at the Bagbag Public Cemetery in Quezon City with garbage strewn all over the place. It added that littering in this cemetery has been characterized as “intense” with visitors literally walking over or sitting next to garbage.
With the ban on vendors in place, the group also observed visible reduction of food packaging waste inside the Manila North and South Cemeteries.
However, some visitors simply abandoned their discards such as heaping up bags of trash with no sense of shame at the statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in the main road of Manila North Cemetery, the group added.
The situation in private cemeteries was similarly wasteful with bins overflowing with discards, especially single-use paper and plastic packaging from food concessionaires, a common sight at the Manila Memorial Park in Parañaque and Quezon Cities.
While alcoholic drinks are banned, some visitors sneaked some canned beers through the tight security of Manila Memorial Park (Parañaque) leaving the empty cans at the Columbarium area.
On the other hand, the group described as litter-free five cemeteries in Metro Manila and one in Bicol. Those were the St. John Memorial Park – San Juan City Cemetery, the Aglipay Cemetery in Marikina City, the Garden of Life-Mandaluyong City Cemetery, Loyola Memorial Park in Parañaque City, and the Bicol Memorial Park in Legazpi City.
Ecowaste commended local authorities, cemetery administrators and the MMDA for deploying more personnel who worked round the clock to remove the trash off the streets and sidewalks.
Republic Act 9003, or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act, forbids the “littering, throwing, dumping of waste matters in public places, such as roads, sidewalks, canals, esteros or parks, and establishment, or causing or permitting the same.