MMDA notes less ‘Undas’ garbage

DAY AFTER. Sweepers turn up at cemeteries to clean the mess left by the living. RAFFY LERMA

It’s still messy and stinky, but the numbers are encouraging.

The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority on Saturday noted a marked reduction in the volume of garbage collected from various cemeteries in the capital after All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day.

An official heading the cleanup operations partly attributed this to recently passed local ordinances banning or limiting the use of plastic bags in business establishments.

Government sanitation workers and volunteer groups once again fanned out for a massive cleanup following the annual observances honoring the dead on Nov. 1 and 2, hauling in a total of 76 trucks of trash from 10 major cemeteries in just two days.

According to Francis Martinez, head of the MMDA’s Metro Parkway Clearing Group, this volume was much smaller than the trash collected following the “Undas” holiday last year.

A 2011 Inquirer report showed that trash from Manila North Cemetery and South Cemetery alone already filled around 200 trucks right after All Souls’ Day last year.

“Our cleanup is faster this year. I suppose people have learned their lesson. There was also a marked drop in the volume of plastics, with some local government units (LGUs) implementing a ban on plastic bags,” Martinez said in Filipino.

Martinez thanked the volunteer groups who helped collect recyclable items like plastic bottles from the cemeteries.

Still, Manila North remained the worst cemetery in terms of garbage generation, producing a total of 20 truckloads. It was followed by Manila South in Makati City which yielded 19 truckloads, and La Loma Cemetery in Quezon City which produced 11 truckloads, the MMDA said.

The other cemeteries covered by cleanup as of Saturday were the Mandaluyong, San Juan and Pasig cemeteries, Loyola Memorial Park in Marikina, Libingan ng mga Bayani in Taguig, Arkong Bato Cemetery in Valenzuela, and the Aglipayan Cemetery in Pateros.

One environmental group, however, remained unimpressed.

EcoWaste Coalition coordinator Edwin Alejo said his group once again monitored the “widespread violation” of the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act banning littering in the cemeteries.

“From dawn to dusk, litterbugs were practically allowed to dirty their surroundings without any risk of being chastised, creating ugly mini-dumpsites in cemeteries. The ‘Zombasuras’ (a play on zombies and the basura, the Filipino term for trash) among us should voluntarily admit their guilt, make amends for such offense and pledge not to litter again,” Alejo said in a statement.

Meanwhile, another group, the Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation, deployed a total of 400 volunteers to collect recyclables in six major cemeteries in Metro Manila.

Tzu Chi volunteer Eliza Asedera issued a statement thanking cemetery visitors who cooperated with their foundation’s campaign.

“People were informed about the beauty of recycling and understood its importance. There would be less garbage at the cemeteries in time,” she said.