Green group gives ‘pako,’ ‘kalat’ awards

Agents of real estate companies handing out brochures that ended up as trash on the ground in various cemeteries earned the particularly egregious “Kalat (Litterbug) Award” from an environmental watchdog that monitored litter louts during the All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day observances.

The EcoWaste Coalition gave the “Pako (Nail) Award” to the Manila Memorial Park in Parañaque City for the equally dubious achievement of “having the most trees injured by commercial tarpaulin advertisements nailed on defenseless trees.”

EcoWaste decried the “widespread littering” that again marked the annual observance of All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day, as millions of Filipinos trooped to cemeteries to honor their dead.

In a statement, the group deplored what it said were blatant violations of the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act despite persistent appeals by the government and civil society to avoid littering on both holidays.

“Although the volume of trash may not be as bad as in previous years, we find the littering that again marred the observance of Undas regrettable as cemeteries are hallowed places and should be garbage-free,” said EcoWaste coordinator Aileen Lucero.

“Litterbugs should mind their bad habits and try recycling next time,” she said.

Positive citations

Not all of the awards that EcoWaste gave out were for rotten behavior.

The Manila North Cemetery in Quezon City and the Manila South Cemetery in Makati City were given the “Most Improved Award” for their “newly energized efforts” in implementing the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act.

The two cemeteries were cited for putting up posters in strategic areas reminding the public against littering and dumping rubbish, and for placing appropriately labeled garbage bins around the cemetery grounds.

The “Pulot Para sa Kalikasan Award” (environmental recycling award) was given to informal waste recyclers and volunteers of the Tzu Chi Foundation and other groups, for “[retrieving] assorted recyclables, and thus helped in preventing valuable resources from being wasted.”

Tarpaulin littering

Some cemeteries, particularly the Manila Memorial Park in Parañaque City, were castigated for allowing tarpaulin ads to be nailed on trees in violation of Republic Act No. 3571, which “prohibits the cutting, destroying or injuring of planted or growing trees, flowering plants and shrubs or plants of scenic value along public roads, in plazas, parks, school premises or in any other public ground.”

“The tarps nailed on trees by popular food outlets leave a bad taste in the mouth and should be removed at once,” Lucero said.

“This appalling act can cause stress to a tree and ultimately damage and kill it,” she said.

Most visible waste

In its monitoring of several cemeteries around Metro Manila, EcoWaste observed that the most visible discarded waste included food leftovers, disposable plates, cups and cutlery, Styrofoam containers, pizza boxes, plastic bags and bottles, brown bags and newspapers, candy and snack wrappers, cigarette butts and commercial leaflets.

“There were also reports of open burning as evidenced by the ash and incompletely burned materials found in some street corners, vacant lots and near desolate tombs,” EcoWaste said.

Again, the Manila North Cemetery and the Manila South Cemetery were commended for their efforts to improve the management of solid wastes.

“We commend the efforts by the new management of the Manila North and South Cemeteries to increase public awareness against littering, improve cleanliness and introduce operational programs on ecological solid waste management,” said EcoWaste’s zero waste campaigner Tin Vergara.