Green group flags ‘overkill’ use of plastic banderitas in Manila Sto. Niño feast

Catholic devotees raise their images of the Infant Jesus known as Sto. Nino during a Mass to celebrate His feast day in this 2014 file photo at Manila’s Tondo district. (AP)

MANILA, Philippines — Saying it was an “overkill”, environment watchdog EcoWaste Coalition on Saturday lamented the use single-use plastic banderitas to adorn streets of Manila for this year’s Sto. Niño de Tondo Feast.

“We are deeply saddened by the lavish use of plastic banderitas in connection with the feast of Santo Niño as if there was no tomorrow. It’s an overkill of wasteful [single-use plastics],” EcoWaste Coalition zero-waste campaigner Jove Benosa said in a statement.

“Rarely reused or recycled, these banderitas consisting of semi-transparent plastic bags, plastic strips or plastic packaging scraps add to the residual plastic garbage that ends up in dumps or on the streets and waterways,” Benosa added.

The banderitas can be found in the Manila districts of Tondo and Pandacan, which celebrate every third Sunday of January the popular feast of Santo Niño. This year’s feast of the Sto. Niño de Tondo will run from Jan. 18 to 19.

Benosa  said that the single-use banderitas pose a threat to the environment.

The use of such decors, the group added, was “not in tune” with Manila mayor Isko Moreno’s initiative of ridding trash in the city.

The group then appealed: “As plastic banderitas, which are made from chemicals obtained from fossil fuels, serve no functional purpose and are not really essential for the good conduct of any festivity, we appeal to all barangay and parish officials to stop this classic example of preventable wastefulness.”