Garbage a big problem during the Feast of the Black Nazarene

MANILA, Philippines — Authorities in Manila are constantly beefing up their preparations as they expect a rise in the estimated number of devotees who will join the Feast of the Black Nazarene on Monday, but Manila Department of Public Services head Carlos Baltazar sees the tons of waste, left in the wake of the procession, as a bigger and much more daunting issue.

Baltazar spoke to Inquirer.net after environment watchdog EcoWaste Coalition and Bantay Tao urged city and village authorities for more portable toilets, trash sacks and bins, and improved enforcements of regulations against littering during the procession.

Baltazar said that they were well prepared and coordinated but admitted that the task of cleaning the debris of the procession was a difficult feat, even to the hundreds of sweepers they intend to deploy.

He said the sweepers would be fanned out, just like lawmen, to keep the procession’s tracks clean and free of obstructions.

To the environment watchdog’s plea for more portalets, Baltazar said the city government would put 30 portalets in various areas along the procession’s route. He added that the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority has also said it would provide additional portalets.

EcoWaste Coalition deputy project coordinator for Project Protect Aileen Lucero said that year after year, the problem was that people recklessly threw garbage during the event. “We even had to clean human waste,” she said.

The group cited data from the DPS, showing that the Plaza Miranda-Quiapo area alone generates  58 cubic meters of garbage on normal days. “what more, if eight to nine million people congregated in the area for a single event,” the group asked

Baltazar said that every year they positioned garbage bins, sacks, and portalets for the procession’s participants, some of whom spend the night before the procession in Luneta.

But he surmised that a handful of portalets, even if placed in strategic places, could not cater to every devotee heeding the call of nature, especially after the procession has started. He said that it may be unavoidable for some, who are walking as part of the procession and cannot take a trip to a nearby portalet, to relieve themselves on the spot.

“This is why this year, we have assigned trucks to tail the procession and clean as it passes. Tinatapon pa lang nila, kinukuha na namin,” explained the DPS chief, saying that they have assigned 18 trucks for the event, nine of them for Luneta and the remaining nine for Quiapo, where the procession was headed.

He said that as per the latest meeting with concerned agencies, six hospitals were prepared to take in devotees who may fall ill or become injured during the procession and 12 ambulances would be stationed in areas along the route of the procession. Manholes have also been covered, streets to be used by the procession were laid with new asphalt, and obstructions to the procession’s route have been cleared, Baltazar added.

Barangay 306 Zone 30 District III chairman Joey Jamisola said that they will be making regular announcements about the locations of the medical stations and ambulances during the procession.

The Manila Police District has also formed a task group focusing on the security preparations for the feast and would deploy some 1,600 officers to ensure peace and order.

Despite the difficult task ahead, Baltazar assured the public that they would stick to their duties, remaining optimistic about this year’s preparations and saying that they were hopeful that everything would be “back to normal after the event.”

To the devotees, Jamisola urged “take your garbage home with you, if possible.”