Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage. NOY MORCOSO lll/INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines – Catholic devotees joining the yearly penitential walk to Antipolo City on Maundy Thursday are urged to keep their routes trash-free, pollution watchdog EcoWaste Coalition said on Tuesday.
In a statement, the group reminded the devotees to pay attention to the advice of Pope Francis to “counter the culture of waste and disposable.”
“We appeal to the pilgrims, particularly the youth, to treat the streets leading to Antipolo with due respect and shun littering that has literally turned past Alay-Lakad into Alay-Kalat, creating mounds of trash along the way,” said EcoWaste’s zero waste campaigner Tin Vergara.
“We fear that litterbugs will again rear their ugly heads and defile the sacrificial walk that hordes of people do in memory of Christ the Redeemer to affirm their faith, seek atonement and ask forgiveness for past wrongs,” she said.
“Even the hallowed ground of the Antipolo Cathedral is not spared as improvised sleeping materials such as newspapers are left scattered by some devotees,” she said.
Among the discards often left on streets and sidewalks are food and beverage materials such as disposable plastic bags, bottles, containers, cups and straws and snack wrappers, as well as bamboo skewers, food leftovers, soiled paper and cigarette butts.
“We also often see pilgrims puffing on cigarettes as they perform their act of penance and then throwing the butts anywhere, unmindful of the hazards of tobacco smoke and the toxins in the butt waste,” Vergara added.
“We hope that smokers will refrain from smoking during the Alay-Lakad for their own health and the health of people around them. Please give up smoking even only for a day. Of course, the better choice would be to quit smoking altogether,” she said.
“Ensuring that this year’s Alay-Lakad will be litter-free and smoke-free will be consistent with the Pope’s plea for environmental responsibility, and we hope that everyone will heed his wise counsel,” she said.
On World Environment Day on June 5 last year, the Pope said, “I would like us all to make a serious commitment to respect and protect creation, to be attentive to every person, to counter the culture of waste and disposable, to promote a culture of solidarity and of encounter.”
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